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Trump Lawyer Defends Candidate Against Rape Allegations; Mike Huckabee Doubles Down on Iran Controversy; GOP Candidates Vying for Spot on Debate Stage; How Obama is Handling Job; Alleged Accomplice to Prison Escape Faces Judge Today; Coast Guard Intensifies Search for Florida Teens. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired July 28, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks so much. Have a great day.

NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Donald Trump's camp now responding to what could be a very damaging article in the "Daily Beast." It concerns a rape allegation decades ago from his then wife Ivana. Ivana Trump later walked back that accusation saying while she felt violated, it was not rape in the criminal sense.

But here's what Michael Cohen, a special counsel to Trump's business empire, told the "Daily Beast." Quote, "You are talking about the frontrunner for the GOP presidential candidate as well as a private individual who never raped anybody. And of course, understand that by the very definition, you can't rape your spouse. It is true. You cannot rape your spouse. And there's very clear case law."

Except that's not exactly true.

So let's get right to CNN's Athena Jones. She's live in Washington with more on this.

Good morning.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This is getting a lot of attention. And as you mentioned, let's just set the record straight, marital rape is illegal in all 50 states. And nonconsensual sex with a spouse is considered rape. So Michael Cohen is wrong on that.

Now the Trump campaign is distancing himself from Cohen, saying he's a lawyer, he's not hired, he works for the Trump organization, not the campaign, even though we've seen him appear as a spokesman many times on our own air.

Now I can tell you that Michael Cohen told the "Daily Beast" writer, his name is Tim Mak, that he was going to come after every penny. He threatened lawsuits because of this article. He said he'd come after the "Daily Beast" and everybody the reporter knows.

I want to play for you a little bit more about what Tim Mak said about his exchange with Michael Cohen. Go ahead and play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM MAK, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE DAILY BEAST: I think it was important to look into, especially since Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign, making insults about Mexican immigrants, saying that they were, quote, "rapists." So it was a little bit relevant to look into his past and see exactly what might have been said about him on that topic in his personal life.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And how did Mr. Trump's lawyer respond when you asked these questions?

MAK: I think it started off a little bit reasonably. They were trying to say that the allegation was not made in a criminal sense like you mentioned. But then it descended into insults and threats, threats of lawsuits telling me to tread lightly and to say that whatever lawsuits that they might file against me would be disgusting. It evolved pretty quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so it sounds like a very difficult exchange between this reporter and Michael Cohen. I want to read for you, though, a statement that was put out by Ivana Trump, Trump's former wife.

She said, "I have read -- I've recently read some comments attributed to me from nearly 30 years ago at a time of very high tension during my divorce from Donald. The story is totally without merit. Donald and I are the best of friends and together have raised three children that we love and are very proud of. I have nothing but fondness for Donald and wish him the best of luck on his campaign. Incidentally I think he would make an incredible president."

That's the statement that we have received from Ivana Trump. But again this is getting a lot of attention. Michael Cohen has been serving in many ways as a spokesperson for the Trump campaign. They say Mr. Trump speaks for Mr. Trump and nobody but Mr. Trump speaks for him. But of course he's under a lot of scrutiny and not to mention -- not to forget about those comments that he made at his campaign launch about Mexican immigrants being rapists. So this is going to get a lot of attention -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. And you'll have more for us next hour.

Athena Jones, reporting live from Washington.

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz made this statement about this controversy. She says this is a new low. Rape is rape. Full stop. End of story. There is no difference or division between forcible, legitimate, marital, or any other label Republicans slap on before the word rape. All rape is a disgusting violation and Americans are fought too long and hard for that to be acknowledged to still have it questioned in 2015."

In the meantime, another GOP contender, Mike Huckabee, is in the middle of his own controversy but says he does not regret accusing President Obama of marching Israelis to the door of the oven in a nuclear deal with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, HOST, "TODAY" SHOW: As president of the United States, would you use the words "march the Israelis to the door of the oven"?

MICHAEL HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I would. And let me tell you why. Because I have been to Auschwitz three times. I have stood at that very place. I have been to Israel dozens of times. My first trip there was 42 years ago. The one thing I am absolutely sure of is that for 6,000 years, Jews have been hunted down. We need to use strong words when people make strong threats against an entire group of people as the Iranians have made toward the Jews.

LAUER: Answer the --

HUCKABEE: This is not -- this is not empty talk on the part of the Iranians. This is something that they consistently say even as we're sitting down having a negotiation with them, and they're crying out death to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:10] COSTELLO: Although it is interesting to note that back in 2007, Huckabee's first presidential run, he was all for diplomacy with Iran saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABEE: We haven't had diplomatic relationships with Iran in almost 30 years. Most of my entire adult life. And a lot of good it's done. Putting this in human terms, all of us know that when we stop talking to a parent or a sibling or even a friend, it's impossible to resolve the differences to remove that relationship forward. Well, the same is true for countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. If you're a cynic, you might say such talk from a Republican won't get you in the door in 2016. Certainly it would not get you a place on that debate stage. After all a new CNN/ORC poll shows 66 percent of Republican voters are against the president's Iran deal.

With me now to talk about this and more, CNN senior correspondent Jeff Zeleny and CNN senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson.

Thanks to you both for joining me this morning. I appreciate it.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to be here. JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning,

Carol.

COSTELLO: It's nice to have you here.

Jeff, even the Israeli intelligence minister who hates the Iran deal is slamming Mike Huckabee posting this on his Facebook page, quote, "Nobody marches the Jews any longer to the crematoria."

So why is Huckabee standing firm?

ZELENY: Well, Carol, I think it is one of those cases where there are a few Republican presidential candidates, perhaps a lot of presidential candidates, trying to get some attention here. And once you say something, once Governor Huckabee said something, it's very difficult for him to sort of take it back. So by doubling down on that, he's, you know, acting like -- or he's carrying through with the fact that he meant to say something like this.

But it's very clear that most Republican presidential candidates with the exception of a couple have disassociated themselves from his remarks saying that kind of rhetoric is too strong. It is not, you know, what's needed in this presidential campaign.

But, Carol, Governor Huckabee chooses his words usually very carefully. He's a former talk radio host. He had a show on cable television. He knows the power of language and the power of words. And I think he is trying to get a bit of attention or certainly he has gotten a bit of attention as all those candidates try and grapple for what's, you know, left of the oxygen remaining in this race in advance of next week's first debate.

COSTELLO: Oh, and you're absolutely right, Jeff. The first debate is coming up and the Republican candidates are vying for a spot. Right now, according to Politico, eight candidates are aloft. Eight. The others are trying to out-Trump each other to try to assure a spot on stage. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUCKABEE: Diplomatic relationships with Iran in almost --