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Conservative Event Disinvites Trump For "Blood" Comments; Huckabee On Trump: I Think He Should Apologize; Lawsuit: Boyfriend Gave Bobbi Kristina "Toxic Cocktail"; Cruz Addresses Trump "Blood" Comments; NFL Team's Women's Program Sparks Huge Backlash. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired August 08, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening right now in the NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Trump dumped and disinvited. The leader of redstate.com said that the Trump's latest comments to CNN crossed the line.

Plus stunning allegations in the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, a lawsuit accusing her boyfriend, Nick Gordon, of knocking her out with a toxic cocktail, and then putting her face down in a bathtub. You're live with CNN NEWSROOM.

Hello and welcome everyone. I am Fredericka Whitfield.

Donald Trump at it again. His latest comments to CNN last night getting him dumped from a conservative political gathering in Atlanta tonight. Here is what he told our Don Lemon when asked about his comments directed at Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just don't respect her as a journalist. I have no respect for her. I don't think she's very good. I think she is highly overrated.

When I came out there, I am not getting paid for this. I go out there and they start to say lift up your arms -- and you know, I didn't know there would be 24 million people. I knew there would be a big crowd because I get big crowds, I get ratings.

They call me the ratings machine. So I have -- you know, she gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see that there was blood coming out of her eyes or wherever. She was in my opinion, she was off base, and by the way not in my opinion, in the opinions of hundreds of thousands of people on Twitter because it has been a brutal day and a great day for Fox, and another day in the Twitter sphere.

It's been very bad because she's been very badly criticized. She's a light weight. I couldn't care less about her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Trump then attempted to clarify his comment this morning with this tweet, said, quote, "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes and wherever and then puts in parenthesis, nose, just got on with thought," end quote.

But it was too little too late for Erick Erickson, a Fox News contributor, and head of redstate.com, which is hosting the conservative gathering in Atlanta this weekend. He said this just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICK ERICKSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, REDSTATE.COM: I disinvited Donald Trump. Hang on. Just hang on. For those of you that have not heard, you all deserve an explanation.

I am glad despite some of the comments that the Trump team made last night, I can honestly say that this event was sold out before we said that he was coming.

I've given Donald Trump a lot of latitude because he is not a professional politician. He is a very blunt talker. I have said some dumb things in my life, and I've apologized for them.

I reached out to the Donald Trump campaign last night and said is Mr. Trump willing to apologize or clarify that he was not suggesting that a national reporter that was having a tough question, was having her period.

The campaign manager said Mr. Trump was talking about bleeding out of her eyes. She was bleeding everywhere all over. The bleeding out of eyes was not the problem. It was what came after that.

The campaign manager refused to acknowledge that he had said that, and so I told him -- he asked me to send him an e-mail. He said everyone and myself is interpreting it this way. I think that it was inappropriate. I really think that it was inappropriate.

I have my wife here, daughter here and 800 friends of mine, and it's a family friendly program and if he is not going to clarify that this is not what he meant, I don't think that I want him at my event.

And the campaign manager called me back and said that Mr. Trump whatever he was trying to move them along and trying to get Don Lemon to move beyond or meant whatever.

I asked him if he was going to clarify that publicly, and he said no. I said sorry, I would prefer Mr. Trump not come to the event.

[12:05:01] Now, immediately thereafter the Trump campaign promptly -- well, first of all after we reached out to them before I got involved, I was at dinner.

And our staff reached out to the Trump campaign to ask if he said this, and instead of responding to this they sent out a press advisory that he was going to speak. That was an indicator.

After all of this was over Mr. Trump went on Twitter and said that I was a weak and pathetic leader, which is OK. I think that it's really weak and pathetic to take a tough question from a journalist and assume she is having her period and that's why she asks you a tough question.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk more about this. Let's bring in Mark Preston, our executive editor for CNN Politics who is live in Atlanta outside of the location where redstate.com event is happening, at least one of the events.

OK, so Mark, you hear from Erick Erickson and he is a Fox contributor and he is the editor-in-chief of redstate.com, but you know, help us understand.

Was it supporters or attendees of the event who put pressure on him who said these comments from Donald Trump were inappropriate so he is not welcomed or is this his personal decision? How is that being interpreted among the Republican Party? Does it change the landscape in any way?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Well, you know, Fred, I think that Erick Erickson made the decision himself. It happened so late last night. You know that interview was in the 9:00 hour here on CNN and Erick Erickson, I believe, made that decision about 11:00.

So it's not as if he was pressured by folks to disinvite Donald Trump. You know, what is interesting about this is that the reception that Erick Erickson received when he explained why he choose to ask Mr. Trump not to attend this evening's event.

We saw applause in the hall. I have to tell you, I spoke to some folks including a woman who drove in from Indianapolis, who is not happy that Donald Trump was disinvited.

She says that in fact Donald Trump's words were being twisted, and that he should have had the opportunity to speak. In addition to that, we're starting to hear from the Republican presidential candidates, the rivals of Donald Trump for the GOP nomination.

We have heard from the like of Carly Fiorina and George Pataki. We've also heard from John Kasich just now. Let me just read this, John Kasich the Ohio governor.

"Everyone deserves respect and dignity whether they agree with you or not. You don't tear people down just because they disagree with you or stand up to you or question you."

In addition to that, Fred, I was able to talk to Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who appeared here just a few hours ago at Red State. This is what he had to say about Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, Mark, Megyn Kelly was a colleague of mine for six and a half years when I was at Fox. She was one of the most remarkable people I know intellectually, unsurpassed as a broadcast journalist. She has great integrity, and so you know, I am going stand for Megyn Kelly.

PRESTON: Do you think it was inappropriate? Did he cross the line with that comment?

HUCKABEE: You know, Mark, I certainly would never say anything about a person like that and I hope that he apologizes because I think that he should.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: Now Fred, we also heard from the Republican National Committee who had said that Donald Trump should apologize as well. Clearly the battle lines are being drawn. Donald Trump is not apologizing. He has been on social media all morning explaining what he said and defending it, but certainly not apologizing for it -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, are there other redstate.com events upcoming in which Donald Trump would not be invited, do we know?

PRESTON: Well, red state is one of the most influential political blogs out there right now. Erick is one of the most influential conservative voices out there. Erick is certainly not an establishment Republican.

In fact, he battles with the establishment Republicans. They don't like him. This is just an annual gathering where they bring people together to talk about politics and policy, and it's actually very influential.

You know, just on Thursday night, you had the Republican candidates reaching millions of people during that debate. There are only 800 and a 1,000 people here over the past few days, but yet nine presidential candidates have come to talk to these folks.

And the reason being, these are the folks, Fred, who are going knock on the doors and talk to friends and they are the ones who are going to vote in the Republican primaries.

WHITFIELD: All right, Mark Preston, thanks so much.

We're not done with politics. This is just the beginning. CNN host the first presidential debate on Wednesday, September 16th. Plus the first Democratic presidential debate will be live right here on CNN. That's Tuesday, October 13th. You don't want to miss either one.

Let's talk about what happen in the last few hours. So let's bring in someone who can give us possibly some more insight as to why Trump was disinvited from the redstate.com event.

[12:10:08] Amanda Munoz is the external relations director for Town Hall Media, one of the Red State gathering organizers. All right, Amanda, good to see you.

AMANDA MUNOZ, EXTERNAL RELATIONS DIRECTOR, TOWNHALL MEDIA: Hi, good to see you. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: OK, thank you. We heard Erick's explanation, but what is your understanding as to what happened leading up to the decision to disinvite, and how did redstate.com communicate that Donald Trump himself?

MUNOZ: So as Erick addressed in his speech and you pulled a few sound bites from that. We reached out directly. Erick reached to the campaign directly and gave him the opportunity to clarify if they wish, that did not happen.

The group made the decision and Erick made the final decision. Our Red State gathering director was an important person in that decision. It was pretty swift. We handled it as quickly as we could late last night.

We spoke via e-mail, and I think Erick took a few calls and wrapped it up late last night.

WHITFIELD: What has been the sentiment because you know, we have heard that some of the supporters from Mark Preston that talked to a coup of people that came from far places, they really wanted to see Donald Trump, and now they are very disappointed if he is not going to be at this evening's event.

So you know, I wonder is the interpretation or is an now that redstate.com particularly because Erick Erickson is on Fox News as a contributor that, you know, he is kind of standing up for Megyn Kelly and less so making a statement about the Republicans in the race.

Because I looked at the program, and a good number of the Republican candidates are on the program over the next three days, so you know, kind of the antithesis of what we just heard Mark say that Erick is not an establishment kind of Republican, but the establishment of the Republican candidates are there.

MUNOZ: So this event was never about Donald Trump. Donald Trump was one of the ten presidential candidates that we had invited to speak. What we were really hoping to do was give the conservative grassroots activists.

The attendees that are here that are excited to be here and are still excited for a full day of presidential candidates that we have to hear from the party, to hear from the folks, without -- you know, fresh off the debate, without the debate format, restictions. They all get 30 minutes to speak. They can say whatever they like. It's really about letting the attendees know that they're the ones pushing us forward and pick a nominee to make our way in 2016.

WHITFIELD: And Donald Trump is among them.

MUNOZ: We're excited for the day. And right so Eric offered in the response this morning he offered to give anyone that wanted a refund for those that are upset and disappointed. I can tell you that we have not had one person.

Everyone is thrilled to hear all of the conservative leading voices that we have including the nine presidential candidates that are speaking with us this weekend.

WHITFIELD: So then moving forward for redstate.com, if there are other ones like this and Donald Trump is still at the top of the polls or near the top if not on top, would redstate.com not invite him or is there a way to still make room for him down the line?

MUNOZ: You know we have a full primary season ahead of us. The gathering is an annual event so we do one every year. I can tell you that we have no future events planned just yet with Red State in particular. As that comes up, we'll just re-evaluate.

This weekend is really about the presidential candidates and about empowering the attendees and letting them know that their conservative voices are heard in discussing the issues that matter the most to them.

WHITFIELD: All right, Amanda Munoz, thanks so much.

MUNOZ: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, shocking new claims against the boyfriend of the late Bobbi Kristina Brown. Sara Ganim is following the story.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. Several disturbing new allegations in this lawsuit, violent relationship detailed between Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon. What her family says caused her death coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:12:35]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A stunning new allegation in the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown, an amended wrongful death lawsuit accuses Brown's boyfriend, Nick Gordon, of giving her a, quote, "toxic cocktail" that knocked her unconscious, and then putting her face down in a bathtub.

Brown, the only daughter of the late Whitney Houston and singer, Bobby Brown, died two weeks ago in a hospice months after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub of her Georgia home. Joining us now from New York is Sara Ganim with more on this. Sara, these are shocking details and allegations.

GANIM: Certainly the details from this lawsuit are disturbing, Fred, allegations of physical abuse, accusing Nick Gordon of manipulating Bobbi Kristina for her inheritance, taking money from her bank accounts without her knowledge, and becoming very controlling of the 21-year-old.

Even using video surveillance to listen to her conversations and watch her when he was gone from the home they share. The lawsuit claims that in the days leading up to the incident that Gordon beat Bobbi Kristina in front of friends, hitting her so hard that he broke the couch that she was sitting on.

And when she fell to the floor, it claims he hits and kicked her until she was bloody and had broken a tooth. The morning that she was found in the bathtub, the lawsuit says Gordon came home at 6 a.m. after an all-night cocaine bender and became upset again.

It says that he, quote, "screamed at Bobbi Kristina accusing her of cheating and calling her names." The lawsuit says that Gordon, quote, "gave Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then putting her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage.

It also notes that she had another broken tooth when she was found, and there was a dust pan at the bottom of the bathtub. It state that Gordon changed his clothes and then, quote, "after wards he got into bed and then laid his bed on a female guest ankle and stated now I want a pretty little white girl like you."

Of course, we know that Bobbi Kristine never woke up after being found in that bathtub. Doctors diagnosed her with a, quote, "global and irreversible brain damage," and she died about six months later.

Now Gordon's legal team responded to these allegations saying that the resent lawsuit against Nick is slanderous and meritless. Nick has been heartbroken and destroyed over the loss of his love and it's shameful that baseless allegations have been presented publicly.

[12:20:06] Nick has also engaged civil counsel and intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously and expose it for what it is, a fictitious assault against a person who loved Krissy most -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Sara, there were also allegations that Nick Gordon was in fact stealing money. You mentioned at least recently was this over a long period of time?

GANIM: Well, the lawsuit alleges that before she went into a coma that he had taken large portions of money out of her bank account without her authorization and then put it into accounts that only he could access. Also after she went into the coma, he withdrew $11,000 from her bank accounts.

WHITFIELD: OK, supposedly she has a $20 million estate. All right, thank you so much, Sara Ganim. Appreciate that.

All right, still ahead a key Democratic senator is not buying President Obama's hard sell on a nuclear deal with Iran. We will talk about that next.

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[12:25:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, President Obama is vacationing on Martha's Vineyard today. The trip comes amid an aggressive sell on a nuclear deal with Iran. Some congressional Republicans say they will vote no on the pact.

Now Chuck Schumer, a key Democratic senator, is saying no to the deal. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A more aggressive push by the White House this week to build support, interviews with the president and speeches by administration officials and meetings with members of Congress.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The reason that Mitch McConnell and the rest of the folks in his caucus opposed it. Jumped out and opposed it before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done. In that sense, they do have a lot in common with hard liners that are more satisfied with the status quo.

SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MAJORITY LEADER: My view of this issue is rather than this kind of crash political rhetoric, we ought to treat this issue with the dignity that it deserves.

SERFATY: Much of the administration's lobbying campaign is directed at undecided congressional Democrats who are key to sustain a veto if Congress passes a resolution of disapproval.

But some confidence now coming from Democrats indicating they think they will end up having the needed votes. For the White House welcome news this week with a series of leading Senate Democrats coming out in favor of the agreement.

But a setback when influential Jewish Senator Chuck Schumer revealed his opposition writing, quote, "I believe Iran will not change, and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating the sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and nonnuclear power."

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The announcement that was not particularly surprising to anybody here at the White House even if it was disappointing.

SERFATY: With Congress out of town both parties expect pointed questions at town halls during the congressional recess, which could go far in influencing the debate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And the White House has been attempting to downplay the significance of Schumer's defection pointing the ties in the past where the senator has disagreed with the president like Schumer support in 2003 for the Iraq war.

But some allies of the president are bringing a little bit more heat in voicing their opposition to Schumer's move suggesting this could potentially jeopardize his rise as the next Democratic leader of the Senate.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much in Washington. You can see more of that interview with Fareed Zakaria and the president of the United States tomorrow. It's an exclusive. Be sure to watch "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" on Sunday 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:31:22]

WHITFIELD: Hello and welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for joining us.

All right, we're tracking the fallout from Donald Trump's latest controversial comments. The Republican presidential candidate is getting heat after describing to CNN's Don Lemon how he was treated by Fox anchor, Megyn Kelly, during this week's Republican primary debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She gets out and starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. And you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes or blood coming out of her, wherever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That comment got him dump from the redstate.com conservative political gathering in Atlanta tonight and it also sparked a Twitter fight between Trump and Red State organizer, Erick Erickson.

Trump saying, quote, "I miss you all and thanks for all of your support. Political correctness is killing our country, weakness," he says. Erickson then firing back, talking about how he has handled his own controversial comments in the past, saying, quote, "The difference between Donald Trump and me is that I apologized and he is just denying he said it."

All right, let's talk more about this. I want to bring in Tharon Johnson. He was a regional director for the Obama 2012 campaign and Jackie Gingrich Cushman. She is an author, a campaign adviser and the daughter of Newt Gingrich. Good to see both of you. OK, so now what is this? What is your interpretation here? Is this an issue of conservatives that don't like what Donald Trump has said, or is this something now personal between Erick Erickson and Donald Trump on the heels of the debate involving Megyn Kelly and the questions that she asked and Donald Trump not liking it?

THARON JOHNSON, FORMER SOUTH REGIONAL DIRECTOR, OBAMA 2012: Well, he had a debate on Thursday night. You want to come out with a coherent, consistent message to your voters. To have this event in the Red State that they're having it in Georgia for all of these grassroots conservative folks that want to come and see their candidate.

I mean, they're upset about that. I have talked to a few folks there. It's kind of split. Some want today see their candidates and others think that the Red State team made the right decision after the disrespectful comments against a woman.

WHITFIELD: And so how do you think this is being interpreted. This isn't the RNC event where everyone must be welcomed, but this is something independent. Redstate.com invited everyone, and they invited -- everyone who was there over the next few days and we're wrapping it up this weekend have been top tier and now the big draw is not going to be there.

JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, AUTHOR, "5 Principals For A Successful Life": They did not invite everybody. There were a few that they did not invite. I think secondarily it's a private event, but it shows the importance of Georgia.

Georgia has become incredibly important in this election season and the reason is because we have so many candidates on the Republican side. Not true for the Democratic side, that it may take one or two or three primaries to see who is going to be at the end. This is important to be in the forefront.

WHITFIELD: What does that have to do if Donald Trump has a place there or continues to be welcomed whether be in that forum or in the party as a whole?

CUSHMAN: Well, it's part of the process. We have 17 candidates, and if you look back four years ago and watch the candidates -- Michelle Bachmann this time four years, she won the Iowa straw poll, and she did not won.

So there are ups and downs to all the candidates and again, I think that Megyn's question about are you presidential material was a very fair question.

[12:35:07] He is a frontrunner and he got hit hard. If he cannot live it out, it really shows to the voters.

WHITFIELD: OK, so no guarantee that Trump will even run as a Republican. He said it could be either way. Now he was asked that again by raising his hand and then again even with Don Lemon. This is how he put it last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Why can't you just say no matter with who the nominee is that you're going to support the Republican nominee no matter who it maybe?

TRUMP: Because I don't choose to do so, Don. What difference is it to you? I don't choose to do so. I will probably do that, but I am only looking to one thing and that's running as a Republican and winning as a Republican.

LEMON: If you run as a third party candidate, the concern of the Republicans is that you're going hand it over to whoever the Democratic person whether its Hillary Clinton --

TRUMP: Don't worry about it. That's not your problem. So what happens is -- look I am leading as a Republican. It's better to run as a Republican, but I am leading as a Republican. That's what my choice is. If I am treated fair economy with respect, and even if I don't get it, I would most likely go ahead and not do that.

If on if other hand, I might very well might. At some point I may switch over and make everybody happy, and I would be happy also. With that being said I am being treated very nicely by the RNC and everybody. They're treating me nicely.

Let's face it I want a level playing field. If I get a level playing field, fairness, then it's highly unlikely that I do the other and that's a third party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, a level playing field. OK, so all options are on the table. It's clear and saying that and at the same time he is saying get used to me, I am here to stay. Where is he and how is he going to be, I guess less disruptive for the party, or where are his gains?

JOHNSON: Well, let's go back to what he is doing. He is tapping into an emotion of the American people. When you talk to folks one of the things is that he tells the truth. He may not say the most political thing.

CUSHMAN: He is unedited.

JOHNSON: Yes, he has a lot of money and unbias.

WHITFIELD: That's why a lot of people like him because he is saying what people have felt like -- they want to hear from certain candidates, but there are better ways in which to convey a message at times.

JOHNSON: The other thing that's going on with the GOP right now is a divide between the main stream candidates and your first tier and second tier candidates. I mean, the main stream and the top nine or eight on the stage did not want to talk about some of the things that Trump was talking about. They missed the opportunity to talk about jobs and fact that the word middle class was mentioned twice in a two hour debate. I mean, that shows you where they got to get to as far --

WHITFIELD: What happen if he does stay in the party? If he continues to lead the polls, if there is no erosion, he continues to be a force then what for the party? What next for the party? There are messages saying rein him in, which isn't possible.

CUSHMAN: All parties, both Democratic and Republican like to control the candidates. They're parties and that's your job and what they do. On both sides we have some that don't do that. I thought that John Kasich did a great job and talking about middle class value and bringing people up and did a great job, wonderful job. You mentioned that.

I think secondarily one of the things that Trump talked about that was not picked up a lot was about how he donated to all the candidates and in fact he mentioned that he donated to Hillary's the Clinton Foundation and she came to his wedding.

This kind of pay to play thing that he talked about specifically about the Clinton's wasn't really picked up about. He has that harness and we need something better out of Washington and we're tired of people that say things based on polls and data and what you should hear. We have to watch it play out.

JOHNSON: Real quickly. The other challenge is women. Let's not forget that. A lot of these remarks that these candidates have made recently whether it comes to Fox News contributor, and also talking about rape and incest, I mean, that's a big challenge that they are going to face.

CUSHMAN: Yes, wrap it up.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Tharon Johnson, Jackie Gingrich Cushman. Thank you so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

CUSHMAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the Republican presidential contenders will debate right here on CNN next month, in fact, Wednesday, September 16th. The Democratic candidates will also hold their first debate right here on CNN and you can watch that Tuesday, October 13th. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:43:29]

WHITFIELD: The estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown has filed a multimillion-dollar wrongful death lawsuit against her boyfriend alleging that he is responsible for the injuries that led to her death last month.

We're going to talk about that in a moment because right now we're going go to the conservative gathering of redstate.com. Among the nine presidential Republican candidates addressing Ted Cruz, let's listen what he had to say. He is being asked about Donald Trump's latest comments.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- there's a standard that I try to follow and a standard that I hope that all of us aspire too. I think that we're not going solve the problem in this country. We're not going defeat by obsessing over the politics of personalities.

This is about real challenges facing the American people. This is about bankrupting our kids and grandkids and the bill of rights and restoring the bill of leadership in the world. That's where my focus has been and it's where I intend to keep it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, this is an actual pattern that Mr. Trump has to women, so can you address the actual comments themselves?

CRUZ: I think Megyn Kelly is a terrific journalist. I believe that I was the very first guest the very first day she launched her show. I think that she does a great job. She did a great job moderating the debate. I am not going to engage in the back and forth of personality.

[12:45:03] I get that the media loves and that's what you what you want to cover is the soap opera, but let me give you a story that's more important than the momentary bickering between the candidates.

That's what happened with General Sulimon. He is the leader of the forces in Iran. Now, it's recently been reported that he travelled to Russia in the violation of the international sanctions.

Now he is responsible for the murder of over 500 American service men and women by providing explosive devices used to murder the soldiers in Iraq. He was responsible for planning a terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

That's why he is subject to international sanctions. Part of this catastrophic Obama Iranian nuclear deal is lifting the sanctions on him and the U.N. sanctions. Now John Kerry says we keep the American sanctions, but they negotiated the U.N. sanctions being lifted.

Now we've discovered even before the sanctions are lifted, he flew to Moscow, the day he returned Russia was implicated in a major cyberattack on the Pentagon --

WHITFIELD: All right, Senator Ted Cruz there. He is being asked a lot about the comments that Donald Trump said in the last 24 hours. Cruz says he wants to keep the campaign on track and talk more about important issues. All of that taking place at the redstate.com event in Atlanta. That's a gathering of conservatives there. Nine candidates but disinvited for this evening is Donald Trump.

All right, back now to the estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown. It's filing a multimillion dollar wrongful death lawsuit against her boyfriend alleging that he is responsible for the injuries that led to her death last month.

The suit claims that Nick Gordon beat Brown after an argument and then gave her a toxic cocktail and later that put her -- that he put her rather in the tub where she was found face down. Gordon's lawyers call the claims shameful and baseless.

Joining me right now to talk about the civil lawsuit are our legal team, civil rights attorney, Avery Friedman in Cleveland, Ohio. Good to see you -- and from Las Vegas, criminal defense attorney, Richard Herman. All right, good to see you as well.

Avery, you first, you know, just the fact that these claims are being made by her court appointed conservator and not necessarily the family impact this case, the merits of this case at all?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: No, it's the administrator that's supposed to be bringing the case. I actually think, Fredricka, this is a case about justice. It has nothing do with money.

The fact is that Nick Gordon is not going to be talking to the cops because of the potential of self-incrimination, but in the civil suit, they can ask the questions. If he refuses to answer, the inferences are drawn from that are significant.

The inference for example of here is a woman that he loved in the hospital. Did he visit her? Did he show the love that he had for her? No, he wasn't. Was he at the funeral? No. He wasn't.

This is about getting to justice. Getting to the facts of what happened. Nick Gordon being collectible, even if they got a judgment, it's unlikely. They want to get the facts because the prosecutors cannot get there. The civil suit will be the vehicle.

WHITFIELD: So then Richard, isn't it usually the case that a civil suit usually follows a criminal investigation or a criminal case, but it seems the inverse in this case. Help us understand why. Does this mean that there will be no finality to the criminal investigation that we had first heard of in the early stages?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Not necessarily, Fred. Sometimes the feds and the state government work with the civil attorneys to get evidence and make a criminal case. They don't have a criminal case right now. They probably will not bring a criminal case.

The civil case is a $200 filings where you throw everything against the wall and hope something sticks. Fred, there are serious rules of evidence when there's a deceased person. Some states it's a dead man statute.

So much hearsay is not going to be admissible. How these people are going to be able to prove that Nick Gordon killed her because that's the allegation that he murdered her, how they're going to be able to prove that is beyond me.

This poor woman who now is dead, they're going muddy her up. If she had a substance abuse or drinking issue, everything is going to come on the table. This is going to be a blood bath. I don't think that they have any evidence that they need to prove a wrongful death here. I think that it's ridiculous.

People living in the house, these are going to be the eyewitnesses. I'm told -- some of the witnesses were getting their stories with other witnesses. Don't look for anything to come out of this to support these claims.

[12:50:11] WHITFIELD: All right, so Avery, you disagree with a lot of what Richard just said, what part?

FRIEDMAN: Well, I think it's -- respectfully, a very cynical response because at this point you need to do discovery. You need to do production of the documents and you need take deposition in order to develop --

HERMAN: There's no death certificate.

FRIEDMAN: Hold on, we can't make a decision until that discovery is completed. If they're going get to the real cause of what killed Bobbi Kristina Brown, you're not going to find out without the discovery. Before making the judgment before the discovery takes place, let's let the case move forward and get the answers to the questions.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard and Avery, thank you so much. It's a tough story and tough case and these are tough details for someone to stomach. Appreciate it. Good to see you guys.

FRIEDMAN: See you soon. Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[12:55:02]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to Health Kitchen, New York. This is my favorite neighborhood because frankly it's real. You know, I'm the unpretentious stores. I like working class people. You can see all kinds of characters and great restaurants and including this one, the best Mexican restaurant anywhere.

What's the secret to your success?

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Another one of my favorite places in New York City is Grand Central Terminal. If you want to know why, just look up at the ceiling and the October sky full on the floor 2,500 stars.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It covers 4,500 acres and it's the world's largest and every single day 750,000 people come through here and that's the entire population of Alaska, San Francisco. On top of that information, that four-face of that clock is made of one solid piece of precious opal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're kidding.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for tagging along. I have to catch my train.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. An NFL team was hoping that the new promotion would bring women closer to the game of football, but it looks like that's backfiring. Coy Wire is here with more on this controversy involving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Yes, good morning, Fred or good afternoon. The Tampa Bay Bucks unveiled a ground breaking women's movement. They said that it wanted to help new female fans understand the game. That made some women mad because they know just as much about the game as men do.

But it really got bad when people saw that initiative also included, quote, "practical advice on how to express their love for the Bucs into original design projects.

Fashion forward team apparel and creative culinary creations," end quote. Now critics are calling the program sexist and others say they appreciate the idea, but they still the question the team's execution and implementation of it.

WHITFIELD: So people are using all kinds to express themselves and particularly social media and when something, you know, trends on social media, it's on fire.

WIRE: And this has been hot. We're going to take a look at some of those tweets. Those that we can show without the blurring and bleeping, Brady said, "I don't know what to think about the program the Bucs are creating for female fans. I thought male/female fans came to watch football."

Nicole could not believe it. "Seriously, though. It's 2015. Do people still need to suggest that women need help to learn/ understand sports?

Caroline supported the initiative. She said, "I kind of love this. I already have a tailgating Pinterest board." And finally Lindsey said, "I wish football teams would realize that we don't need nail polish to enjoy football. We need to be able to attend games without being groped." These were the mild ones -- debatable, and we will follow this and see if there's a statement to respond to all of that.

WHITFIELD: Or modifications of that role out maybe.

WIRE: Yes, we will see.

WHITFIELD: OK. Coy Wire, good to see you. Thanks so much.

WIRE: You too.

WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks for joining me everybody. NEWSROOM continues right now.

Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Topping the news today politics and the road to the White House, Donald Trump on the hot seat again getting dump this time from a conservative political gathering in Atlanta for what he told Don Lemon when asked about his comments directed at Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I just don't respect her as a journalist. I don't think that she is good. She is highly overrated. I am not getting paid for this. They start to say lift up your arms. I did not know that there would be a big crowd like that. She gets out and starting to ask me all sorts of ridiculous questions.

You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes or wherever, but she was -- in my opinion she was off base. And by the way, not in my opinion, in the opinion of hundreds of thousands of people on Twitter because it has been a brutal day in one way a great day for Fox and another day in the Twitter sphere.