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Interview with Donald Trump; CNN/ORC Poll: Trump Within Striking Distance of Hillary Clinton; Why People Support Trump; Fact Checking Trump: What Trump Says and Doesn't Say. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired August 20, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the voters like me. They understand me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is on top of every poll you want to look at.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't let the circus the distract you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Donald in striking range of Clinton.

TRUMP: There will be nobody better than Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People do not want to have President who attacks Mexicans, attacks immigrants.

TRUMP: They are bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, and they are rapists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attacks women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Donald Trump said is wrong.

TRUMP: I cherish women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's becoming a jackass.

TRUMP: We're led by stupid people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald domination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, President of the United States Donald J. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: Thanks for joining us. We can all agree that the election is certainly exciting much earlier than usual. And face it, it's because of Donald Trump. Inspired or disgusted, he has many of you thinking, arguing, and he has the media in high gear. He got to where he is in the race to this point by being an outsider with a lot of fame and fur but no real shot. Who then shocked the political establishment by becoming the face of the GOP's discontent, but tonight you are going to see a different Donald Trump, a front runner, someone with something to lose with a growing weight of expectation to not just be loud, but to be a leader for his party and maybe even beyond. So tonight, listen to what he does and does not say about immigration, trade, jobs, ISIS, all of the big issues. And even the straight talk he has for the Pope. And you will get a look at the personal as well. How he feels about his family being exposed to the toxic political environment, and the role his wife may play in the days ahead. Now this conversation couldn't come at a better time. Our CNN/ORC poll shows Trump within striking distance of Hillary Clinton, where the Presidential election held today, just six points behind the Democratic front runner. So you think you know what he's going to say about that poll? Huge, prepare to be surprised.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: So we have the polls in politics, we have policy, and then we have the personal, they are all a piece. And we will jump around as teams write to you.

TRUMP: That's fine.

CUOMO: The latest CNN/ORC poll -- you don't get more accurate than that. It has you for the first time considered competitive in the general election, six points separating you and Hillary Clinton. You must be shocked?

TRUMP: Well, it's not my focus right now. Right now I have 16 other people that I'm looking at. And that's not my focus, but indirectly it probably is. I think that Hillary is going to have a hard time being in the election based on what is happening with the emails, the servers, maybe even the speeches. I think it's going to be a very hard thing for her to overcome. When I look, Chris, at what happened with Petraeus, on a much smaller level, great general, wonderful guy, everybody loves him, and then destroyed his life over much less in terms of confidentiality, in terms of importance much less and far fewer. And it would seem hard to think that somebody could have a much worse situation than him and escape.

CUOMO: Well, the factual distinction would be that was classified information with Petraeus and he knew it and he used it. Here we do not know yet whether Hillary Clinton was doing the wrong thing or mishandling classified information.

TRUMP: But it looks like it was, and it certainly looks like it was very high-level information. And what's the purpose of it? It's always skirting the edge -- what's the purpose of it? In the end she had something in mind. She didn't want people to know or something. What is she doing? Why is she doing it?

CUOMO: You think this is going to really hurt her long term?

TRUMP: I think it is devastating for the election but I think her bigger problem is not the election. I think her bigger problem is going to be the criminal problem. CUOMO: You really think that this could turn out to be a criminal

situation for Hillary Clinton, because there's no reference of that from the investigation?

TRUMP: I don't think I'm the only one. The FBI is involved. They only do criminal. I don't think I'm the only one. Maybe it is somebody on her staff. Look, it's either criminal or it's incompetent. It is one or the other. There is either gross incompetence or criminal. And neither is acceptable to be President.

CUOMO: I feel like you are skipping the headline. You are six points from Hillary Clinton, nobody would've expected that. You are kind of glossing over it. Why? Shouldn't you be saying six points, I can't believe I'm not ahead.

TRUMP: Well, that's one thing I could say I guess. I think we will do well against Hillary. Hillary's record as Secretary of State was a disaster. She was in favor -- totally in favor of the Iraq war which is obviously not a good sound byte. I think we're going to do very well. And as you know I've been against it for years, the Iraq war. I said you are going to decimate Iraq. Iran will take over the Middle East and take over Iraq which is what is exactly what's happening. And somebody's going to come and takeover the leftover oil and who did that turn out to be, ISIS. So if you look at 2004, exactly what I said happened. So call it vision, I have to call it vision because I am trying to get elected. First time in my life I'm trying to get elected. I'm a politician all of a sudden. But there was a vision, I have gotten a lot of credit for it. They made a terrible mistake. And then they made a terrible mistake the way they got out. And in my opinion they made an even worse mistake not keeping the oil. Because ISIS took the oil and Iran is going to take the rest.

[00:05:21]

CUOMO: People wanted out though, Mr. Trump. And they didn't want forces there. They don't want forces there now. If you wanted to do what you suggest, which take the oil that would take troops that would take danger, that would blood and treasure.

TRUMP: Well, I'd like to take the oil and give a lot of money to the people of the families that were killed, to the incredible wounded warriors that are all over the place. I love these people. These are the greatest people and they're living in hell. And I'd give lots of money to them, their families -- look at all the people. We spent $2 trillion, thousands of people killed, tens of thousands are wounded. We have nothing. Right now Iran is going to take over Iraq, and ISIS has already taken big parts of the wealthy section or Iraq.

CUOMO: Would it be worth creating more wounded veterans?

TRUMP: What I would -- do you wouldn't have that many. I would just take over the source of their wealth, their big source of the wealth is the oil. And also if you look at what is going on with the banks, the Iranian banks, the Saudi banks, they are funneling money into ISIS and yet we help these people. We make this horrible deal -- I think it will go down as one of the worst deals ever made by a country with another country, and it's going to lead to -- whether it is nuclear destruction, you could name a lot of bad scenarios, but the deal with Iran is a totally incompetently negotiated transaction.

CUOMO: Wasn't one of the reasons -- I know there are many, and it is complex but the allies felt they needed do a deal with Iran was obviously the nukes but also Iran has been helpful with ISIS. They've been fighting ISIS for whatever reasons, maybe they are good or neutral or bad reasons, but they have been fighting ISIS, not trying to help ISIS.

TRUMP: There's a whole thing going on. First of all, you look at Iran with Syria. Now ISIS is fighting Syria we're supposed to be Syria's great enemy but we are fighting ISIS. You could almost say why are fighting ISIS in Syria, let ISIS fight with Syria, and take up the leftovers or do whatever you have to do. So Assad has to be looking at us and saying hey, these are supposed to be my enemies but they are the ones who are fighting ISIS and ISIS is a very big enemy from his standpoint. So there are so many mistakes we are making in the Middle East. It's incredible. But when you look at just that one thing, ISIS wants to go after Syria. We are fighting ISIS in Syria. The other thing, ISIS is taking oil in Syria. I am all for the oil. I want to take care of ourselves. I want to rebuild this country. We should focus on the wealth of ISIS. We have to do something with ISIS. While I was against going after Iraq because it will destabilize the Middle East, I was right. Now we have to do something. When they are chopping off heads because a person is a Christian -- by the way, chop off heads of almost everybody any way, but you have people that are living in hell. This is like medieval times so we have to do something. I say take the wealth, take the oil, and I also say give lots of money, and there will be plenty leftover. It is peanuts by comparison, to the families of those soldiers that died, and to wounded warriors, plenty of money to them because they deserve it.

CUOMO: When you think about ISIS, and what you do to stop them, how much of it for you is about the military, how much of it for you is about doing other things, political things to strengthen the regions that they are preying upon?

TRUMP: Well, I think a lot of it is about the military. And I think one of the things I noticed in your poll, I came out way ahead of everybody on the economy. And a lot of people weren't surprised to see that. But I also came way out ahead on the military.

CUOMO: ISIS specifically.

TRUMP: And ISIS. I think that I will be a great sleeper for the military. Because people wouldn't think it is my strength but I think it would be one of strengths. I want to build up our military. I want to have such an incredible military that nobody's going to play games with us, nobody's going to mess with us, and hopefully we won't have to use our military. But we need a powerful military. Being in the real estate business, I get so many listings of bases, army bases, and navy bases, a base is for sale, a place where they have soldiers. I keep saying how many of these places do they have where I can get all of these listings. You can take a look, a lot of sales of bases, military bases. I would build up our military so strong, so powerful that nobody will mess with us. And I think actually that will be the thing that I will be really just about the best at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: So does Donald Trump really think the United States isn't the strongest military in the world? We are going to ask him that after the break. What do you think so far? Hit me up on social media using the hashtag Trump on CNN or wait until you hear what comes next. Does Trump really get his take on ISIS and everything you just heard from what he sees on TV? Plus, the famous names he says he already has lined up to take on some of our biggest challenges, and why he thinks Hillary Clinton has a better chance of becoming a convict than a winning candidate. Stay with us.

[00:10:10]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back. The biggest reason many Americans support Donald Trump is a pretty simple one. Right or wrong, they think his ability to get rich would translate into making all of us better off by running the economy like a big business. The proof is in the polls. Take a look, Trump, best prepared Republican to deal with the economy. But can he deliver? Listen to what he has to say about job creation, trade deals, and diplomacy. He talks, you decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:15:05]

TRUMP: I will be the greatest jobs President that god ever created. I will take them back from China, from Japan, from Mexico, which is doing an incredible job. Their leaders are much smarter than our leaders. They're taking tremendous industry. If you look, Nabisco just announced they're building a big plant. They're leaving Chicago. Nabisco, how American can you get? Nabisco is building a big plant in Mexico. Ford is building a $2.5 billion factory, car plant, manufacturing plant for cars, trucks, and parts in Mexico.

CUOMO: How do you keep them? The labor is cheap that's why they go?

TRUMP: For one thing you keep them by talking to them. But I would say you keep them, if they go there, they will make cars, and they'll sell them to the United States, no tax, no nothing. Just come right across the border. The next thing you know they will have the illegal's driving them right across the border. Take them in. Drive them in. It's cheaper that way, ok. You have to talk to these people. You have to go and see the head of Ford.

CUOMO: They say the labor is cheaper over there?

TRUMP: And you know what then we'll say that's fine. If the labor is cheaper over there that's good. But you know what you're going to have to pay a tax to get the cars back in. You're going to have to pay a penalty. And if you put a penalty, a tariff or whatever you call it. Believe me, China is doing it to us. China dumps all their stuff with us, and I'm not complaining about that. But I have friends that are manufacturers, they cannot get their product in to China. So if they're going to do it to us, we have to do it to them.

CUOMO: And they will say -- but then my car is going to cost more for your people?

TRUMP: No, they're going to make cars here. Maybe a person will buy fewer cars over the course of a lifetime. Who cares? We have to bring back our jobs, Chris. We have to do it. We have no choice.

CUOMO: I hear you. But the question becomes how. In this scenario you just pointed out, you have Ford saying it is cheaper over there and you are going to punish the consumer.

TRUMP: You are not punishing the consumer. You are strengthening our country. We owe $18 trillion. Very soon it's going to be $20 trillion that we owe. We have to start creating jobs. We have to start creating wealth. Look, we all go to good schools. I go to great schools. You go to great schools. You don't have to be the great student to know when Ford builds this massive plant to build cars, and then they bring them back into our country no tax. We get nothing. We get nothing. They leave Michigan. I was just in Michigan the other night, unbelievable people. We had an unbelievable crowd. They leave Michigan, take them out of Detroit and all over the place. They go to Mexico. There is no way that helps us. And you are going to have to do something with the tariff at the border if they're going to make cars over there. If they're going to leave the United States and create jobs for Mexico not the United States. You know what? It's fine. But they're going to have to pay some kind of a price. We are getting killed on trade.

CUOMO: All right.

TRUMP: Interestingly, Carl Icahn agrees with me. Carl Icahn is a great negotiator. I have many other great negotiators, they're dying to get involved.

CUOMO: You wouldn't really put him in charge of China?

TRUMP: I would absolutely.

CUOMO: In charge of China. It makes people think it's not a -- it's a business with. It is a whole political government.

TRUMP: It's a business too. You can come up with me into this building, you'll see the largest bank in the world from China is in this building. I have a great relationship with China just like I do with Mexico.

CUOMO: The problem is diplomacy.

TRUMP: We have diplomacy now. They're killing us. And they don't even like us. We have diplomacy. So we're diplomatic. They don't like us. And they're beating us. With me they'll like us, and we'll beat them, ok? How do I have the biggest bank as my tenant? They're a tenant. I have them -- China. I sell tremendous numbers of units, apartments to people from China. They love me. And Business Week had a story. What are the ten things the Chinese most want? One of the ten things was anything Trump. I say really? Is that right? They respect the truth. They understand they're ripping us off. I take a guy like Carl Icahn, you take Henry Kravetz, you take so many of the guys that I know. And you say you know what I'd like you to watch over the deals that are being made with China because we are getting killed on trade. Believe me we will be so good. We should get a guy like Carl, very smart, great negotiator. We will be so good.

CUOMO: You think he would take a job like that?

TRUMP: He would do it in two seconds. He's already told me he would love to do it.

CUOMO: To oversee China?

TRUMP: Oversee the trade deals in China. In fact, I'd give him China and Japan. He can handle both of them, believe me. But I have others. These are -- we have the smartest, greatest negotiators in the world, we have the greatest business people in the world. We don't use them. We use people like, a very nice person, my daughter likes her, Ivanka, and she has to be wonderful. Caroline Kennedy, ok, in Japan, she didn't even know how she got the job. I watched her on 60 Minutes. She said I asked for the job. They gave me the job. Would you look to be Ambassador to Japan? I said really. And -- as you know the Ambassador to Japan has a big role in trade.

CUOMO: Sure.

[00:20:00]

TRUMP: I would much rather have Henry Kravetz, I would much rather have Carl Icahn, I would much rather have other people doing it. And you know what we'll come out great. Hey Chris, I was in Los Angeles, and I saw ships coming in from Japan. The biggest ships I have ever seen, loaded up with cars, ok, thousands of cars. They're pouring off the ships.

CUOMO: Because they're cheaper.

TRUMP: Wait a minute. They're pouring off the ships. You know what we send them, beef. They don't want it. Because they say we don't want it. And we send them wheat. They don't want it. And you know what the imbalance is between these -- you know over the years millions of cars and the little stuff we send them. It's massive. We have got to equalize it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: So, there is Donald Trump talking to you about why you should trust him to make a difference in what problems will seem obvious to everyone about the economy. Now despite his positions, specifically, even when it comes to immigration and Hispanics, he says they'll love him, which you heard him say about the Chinese. Now that takes us to a little peek at vintage Trump. Take a look at this. The interview ends, he's walking over to a group of fans and waves to me to come meet two of them in particular. Look who he singled out?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are Mexican-American.

TRUMP: We are going to win the Hispanics, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will work for you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: There is much more on Trump's latest stance on immigration for you in this interview, specifically his new position that kicking people out who were born here is the right thing to do if their parents are undocumented. Now doesn't the 14th amendment not allow that, why Trump says the Supreme Court got it wrong and he can fix it? And, Trump says he cherishes women. You heard that. Does he think they should fight in all areas of the military? Rhonda Rousey, you out there? You are going to want to hear this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Let's go back to Donald Trump as Commander-In-Chief. This isn't just about the plan, it is about the leadership behind it, the ideas behind it. Now Trump has said some controversial things. Like the answer to ISIS is to surround the oil fields in Iraq with U.S. troops, and that he knows not many of those troops will die doing that, that Iran is actually funding ISIS, and that he is a better general than a general who helped take down Saddam. But what really raises eyebrows is that much of the basis for these views comes from what Donald Trump says he sees on TV. Is that true? See for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:25:10]

CUOMO: So, you said something earlier about the poll that you came out ahead on ISIS. That was a surprise to people.

TRUMP: Not to me because I talk about it a lot.

CUOMO: I understand. But one of the reasons it might have been surprising because of something else you said, which is that you got a lot of your military analysis from watching television.

TRUMP: See, I didn't exactly say that. I watch your show. And I watch other shows. And you have on the best generals.

CUOMO: We do. We have a great stuff.

TRUMP: Frankly, probably better than I could get. In all fairness, what do I know? I'm a man that's made a great fortune. I'm going to make our country rich. I'm going to make our country great. You know what you get me the right generals and I'll see, four, five generals. I'll see all sorts of people, they'll even stoop down to the colonel stuff. You go all over the place. But you have a lot of different people. So do other shows. And they are really great people. And I watch that. And I read the Times, and I read the Wall Street Journal, and I read magazines, especially Time Magazine this week because I am on the cover. I will especially read that. But I read magazines. I read other things. Sure, I need a team. But by the time you get to a problem, we are talking a long ways away. It is going to be changed. You're going to have a whole -- different countries will be run by different people -- in all fairness.

CUOMO: You will have someone like your opponent Jeb Bush who says I have a policy team, a staff, he doesn't have one.

TRUMP: He says he does, ok. Look, he can sit -- he's a very low energy person, Jeb Bush. He's got very low energy which is ok, it's good, if you want to lead a long life. But he is a low energy person. Perhaps he sits down all day long with a particular general. But you know what? I can get a lot of information in a very short time. I have met with numerous people. I was given the biggest award by the marines the other day, just about one of the biggest civilian awards by the marines the other day. I was with all the marines. I was with the head of the joint -- the new head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is a very impressive guy at Waldorf-Astoria the other night. I was given one of the most distinguished awards, which was a great honor for me.

CUOMO: So you're saying they respect you?

TRUMP: I think they do. I got the award from them. And they presented it to me. So I think they do. But when I say that -- a lot of people thought that was very smart. You know, I watch all of the shows. You get the best people. You know because even the generals want to be on television, right? Or they're retired generals in many cases. But I see a lot of good things by watching your show and other shows. And it's really nothing to be laughed at or scoffed at.

CUOMO: If you took it to the next level then you would have your own policy advisers.

TRUMP: Sure. And you know what I do -- when I watch, without naming names, but when I watch your different shows and your show particularly, you are very much into this. But when I watch the different shows there are certain people I really think are terrific that I can do better by watching and seeing and reading in the Times, and then I know who I maybe want to speak to more. You are not going to meet with 400 different people. So I do learn a lot by watching and I do learn a lot by reading the various newspapers and magazines and everything else.

[00:30:00] And I really find it to be a fascinating subject.

CUOMO: Today...

TRUMP: And some people agree with me on ISIS. Many of them agree with me on ISIS.

CUOMO: Probably reflected in the poll. Today, what do you think your chances of becoming president of the United States?

TRUMP: Well, I never like to talk about chances. I mean, I'm doing really well. I'm leading every poll. Your polls have been very, very strong. Fox just came out a couple days ago, with very similar to your poll, leading everything. I was most happy with your poll because my daughter Ivanka came up to me and my wife came up to me, Melania. And she knows how passionate I am about women protecting women and taking care of. I cherish women. And I -- they're so important. And when I watched Jeb Bush a week ago, not wanting to fund the women's health issues and he wanted to not fund them. He said, "Well, I don't think we need to spend $500 billion. I don't think they need that kind --" well, I thought it was terrible. Now, I want...

CUOMO: He says he only meant Planned Parenthood.

TRUMP: Well, I watched him make the statement. And then he went back and he was, you know rewound up by his pollsters, and they said, "Oh, by the way, you made a mistake." So then he said he misspoke. And -- but you know how do you misspeak about something like that. And my wife came up to me, my daughter Ivanka, who you know, came up to me and they said, you know the one thing you should do is talk a little bit about women's health issues because you are so good on it. You know about it and you cherish women. You want to protect women and protect them in more than one ways. That way, I will protect them militarily too because we are such a target. This country is such a target because what considered to be weak. We're a weak country. We're considered to be weak now. And I will protect women more than anybody.

CUOMO: You don't think we are considered the strongest country in the world militarily?

TRUMP: I think we are considered to be a country in decline, serious decline. You look at our education, we're number 25 in the world and we spend far more than anybody else per student...

CUOMO: Would you let women fight in the military, in the rangers and all of the elite groups?

TRUMP: Yeah, I guess the answer is yes because they're really into it. And some are really, really good...

CUOMO: Just had two graduates from the ranger's school.

TRUMP: Yeah, I would also speak to the generals because I wouldn't want to hear that without a political bent. I want to hear the truth. I mean, you know, to the public, they say yes, yes, yes, but I would want to hear without a political bent. But I tell you what, I know some women that are just -- Rhonda Rousey is an example, who likes me said...

CUOMO: Lucky for you.

TRUMP: I take her -- hey, I take care on my side as a fighter. So, the answer is yes. I would. I would also want to speak however to the, to the military. CUOMO: So you come on last week and you say, "I don't have to talk about what I do with women, I can show what I do with women. We hire them, put them in positions of excellence and we pay them often better than male counterparts if their work warrants it."

TRUMP: Correct (ph).

CUOMO: So your office then comes, they provide us what they called their proof of performance. And here are the jobs, it happens. It's a private company. We don't want to out the people. You will say if I want to come in there...

TRUMP: Although, they would be willing to do.

CUOMO: That's right. I will sign and MBA and nondisclosure -- so that goes out, you issue the challenge so you to the other candidates. The media kind of dismisses it...

TRUMP: Yeah.

CUOMO: What is your take and why?

TRUMP: Well, for the most part the other candidates never hired anybody. I have thousands of people that work for me. I have tens of thousands of people. I've created tens of thousands of jobs. That means I paid for education, for all these people. I pay for health care far better than Obamacare. I mean, I pay for really great -- I take great care of my people. You know I have a great company as you probably noticed when I did my filings. So I am very proud of my company. The problem with the other candidates, you know they might have -- nobody working for them. They don't have people working for them. They've never created a job before. That's all I -- I'm a job producing machine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And that's a big part of his sell to you as to why he should be your next president. Now we have asked candidates who are running against him and on the democratic side to provide similar information. And we're waiting on most of it. Now, a couple of small fact things, Trump's claim of getting an award from the marines, now what they say. According to them quote, "The U.S. Marine Corps has not presented any awards to any presidential candidates this year. It is not customary for the Marine Corps to make such presentations." So how do you explain it? Well, the award came from the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. It is a charity, but it's not really affiliated with the marines. Oh, and as for Rhonda Rousey, she tells CNN, "I'm not gonna vote for Trump. I wouldn't trust the guy with running my country."

Now Donald Trump doesn't play. That's what's been said to us about him. Even when it comes to the pope, he has a message for il Papa when he comes to the U.S. next month about his criticisms of capitalism. Stay tuned for a conversation about his family, including his immigrant wife. Why she would get to stay under Trump's immigration proposals.

[00:34:59] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: It has long been the law of the land that if you are born inside the United States, you are an American citizen. No matter where your parents came from, no matter how they got here. The biggest controversy set off by Donald Trump this week is his plan to say no more, just being born here, not enough to become a citizen. Now that is an idea that has little basis in law, but gets a lot of people riled up. So let's test his reasoning on immigration reform, and also talk about one man who may not like these ideas very much, the Pope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:40:12] CUOMO: Immigration.

TRUMP: Right.

CUOMO: You're people in the GOP worried that you are going to alienate -- excuse the pun, the Hispanic population...

TRUMP: I have to do it right then.

CUOMO: You have 28 million...

TRUMP: Chris, I have to give the (inaudible).

CUOMO: You have 28 million voters...

TRUMP: You're right.

CUOMO: Pulling the birth right exception...

TRUMP: You're right.

CUOMO: That maybe constitutionally dubious, you shouldn't be taking such an extreme position. What do you say?

TRUMP: I have to do the right thing. It's a time, you know, this country is so politically correct. Nobody wants to take a stance so on anything. I was the one that brought up and I took a lot of heat. You gave it to me too. I mean, you were one of the leaders that first week, and week and a half after I made the announcements. And a lot of people including yourselves, they were not reading it the way I said it and that is now a fact. And I've -- I've been actually complimented by some of the people that -- because I brought up the whole thing of illegal immigration. I'll bet you wouldn't even been asking this question right now. Had I not put that in my opening statement as a very important?

CUOMO: You definitely changed the nature of the dialogue. I gave you that. And I certainly, never would try to take you out of context, to try to take you at your word...

TRUMP: I know that. I know that.

CUOMO: And put it in context.

TRUMP: I tell you, many people did.

CUOMO: But you say would you then go...

TRUMP: At some point that we have to -- look, at some point, we have to be honest with ourselves. It's called, you know, they now like to use the word undocumented because it is more political. I don't use that word. They're illegal immigrants. They came over illegally. Some are wonderful people and they've been here for a while. They got to go out...

CUOMO: But how do you do it...

TRUMP: They got to leave.

CUOMO: In a practical way? You really think you can...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: You know what, at some point, we are going to try to get them back, the good ones. We have a lot of good ones. Same time...

CUOMO: You are sending a mixed message, though, Mr. Trump...

TRUMP: You got some seriously...

CUOMO: Did you say you gonna get rid of whole families, but then you say you want them back?

TRUMP: You got to go. They're illegal. We have a country. We have to have a border. We have to have a wall. Mexico will pay for the wall. I get a kick out of the guys that never negotiated. They can't negotiate for the wrong house.

CUOMO: You're saying they're going to pay for $4 billion wall...

TRUMP: They gonna do it.

CUOMO: You give them like $280 million a year. Why would they say yes?

TRUMP: Because they make a fortune with us. Our companies are moving into Mexico more than almost any other place right now. We are losing our industry. We are losing our business to Mexico. Their leaders are smart as hell. I mean 300,000 -- I look at your show, 300,000 births this year, illegals in our country. That means we picked up 300,000 people that are going to get social security. You have people on the border and in one day they walk over, have a baby, and now all of a sudden, who was supposed to pay for the baby.

CUOMO: So the citizenship for those babies...

TRUMP: Unethical (ph) Social Security.

CUOMO: You are revoking now and retroactively?

TRUMP: Number one, the 14th amendment is very questionable as to whether or not somebody can come over, have a baby and immediately that baby is a citizen.

CUOMO: The court has pretty much said that...

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: This is a minority legal opinion you are talking about.

CUOMO: Chris, there are many people that totally feel that...

CUOMO: Because they've want it that way.

TRUMP: Amending is too big a deal. It's gonna take -- it will be two terms. I would be in my second term on my eighth year by the time, assuming everything went smoothly because to amend the constitution...

CUOMO: Takes a long time.

TRUMP: I believe...

CUOMO: Especially on a very divisive issue.

TRUMP: I believe you can win it legally. OK? I believe you can win it legally. And in any event, the parents have to leave. If the parents leave, unless they're very bad people, they're going to take their baby.

CUOMO: 75 percent of the country feels that you should be trying to find a way to let people stay with conditions as opposed to kicking everybody out.

TRUMP: These people, the really good ones, that we have some great ones. We are going to try to expedite so they can come back, but they gonna come back legally. Let me tell you, when you look at Baltimore, when you look at Chicago, when you look at the crime that is going on, you have some of these people are illegal immigrants. I mean they're illegal, they come into the country. They're gang members. They're the toughest of the group. They're tough, they're rough...

CUOMO: Some are bad, but you know most of them coming here to fight for the dream.

TRUMP: I get them out before I start building the wall. And I will start building that wall soon. I will get them out. The first thing I'm doing is getting the bad ones out and they're gone. And they're not coming back either. I'm gonna increase the hell out of the border in terms of the guards and border patrol, who had got to know a lot of them when I went to the border recently, and they're fantastic. They want to be able to do their job. They're stopped from doing their job. Before I even start the wall, and I will start the wall very quickly. You know one of the things that holding up the wall, environmental impact statements. Can you believe this? Environmental impact statement...

CUOMO: Think it's got to be low on the list.

TRUMP It's -- but that's one of the things. They can't get environmental permits. Can you believe this, OK? Believe me. That's all I do is get permits.

CUOMO: What about going after the employers? And this isn't a cheap thing to come at you and say (inaudible).

TRUMP: That's true. That's true.

CUOMO: But you have these employers.

TRUMP: Well, you know what? They've checked all of my buildings and so far with all of the jobs I have, Washington, everyone. Nobody has found one.

CUOMO: Good for you.

TRUMP: Are you impressed?

CUOMO: Good for you. I'm -- I was impressed the moment you sat down. What I'm saying is you have these employers, the fund. The Agro companies, the other big manufacturers. They take them in because it's cheap labor. And they get away with it all the time. You never hear about a big case of them getting busted unless...

TRUMP: Yeah.

CUOMO: You know, something happens and it goes away. Why does anybody...

(CROSSTALK)

[00:44:55] TRUMP: First of all, we do have people that could do those jobs and they're unemployed now in this country. Second of all, those good people that have been working with the companies -- I want them to come back in. I want them to go out, but I want them to come back in legally. So they can come back and they can work for those companies. I do want them to come back then.

CUOMO: But do you go after the employers who doing it the wrong way?

TRUMP: The one way you find out who they are is through the employers -- absolutely.

CUOMO: All right. So let me ask you about the Pope. The Pope is coming. Do you want to meet him?

TRUMP: Well, I'm protestant, but I have great respect for the Pope. I like the Pope. I actually like him, he's becoming very political. There is no question about it, but I like him. He seems like a pretty good guy.

CUOMO: So here's the moment. You meet the Pope, Pope Francis comes.

TRUMP: Right.

CUOMO: There's a translator.

TRUMP: Right. CUOMO: And he says, "Oh, Mr. Trump. This is very nice." And then he says, "You know I want to tell him something." The translator says to you, "The Pope believes that capitalism can be a real an avenue to greed. It can be really toxic and corrupt" and he's shaking his finger at you when he says it. What do you say in response to the Pope?

TRUMP: I would say ISIS wants to get you. You know that ISIS wants to go in and take over the Vatican. You have heard that. You know that's a dream of theirs. To go in to Italy, you do know that.

CUOMO: He talks to you about capitalism. You scare the Pope.

TRUMP: Oh no. I'm gonna have to scare the Pope because you know there's only one -- look, the Pope, I hope, can only be scared by God.

CUOMO: Is the ceiling open over here right now?

TRUMP: I hope can only be scared by God. But the truth is you know if you look at what is going on, they better hope that capitalism works because it is the only thing we have right now, and it is a great thing, when it works properly. In our country, Chris, it has not been working properly.

CUOMO: The capitalism has.

TRUMP: It has not been working properly.

CUOMO: Do you take him seriously to what he says?

TRUMP: Between -- excuse me. Between regulations, between all of the Dodd-Frank, between all of the different things that have been imposed, we aren't competitive, like we used to be. We have to open up our country to great capitalism. I don't think the Pope is opposed to capitalism by the way. I have seen a lot of what he is opposed to. And I don't think the Pope is opposed to capitalism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: And if he is, Donald Trump will tell him ISIS is coming for you. Next, Donald Trump, the family man. How much did his wife and his kids want or not want him to make this run? And his potential first lady would be the first one ever born outside the U.S. Where's she's been -- where she been, by the way. And is her absence a sign that the immigrant doesn't agree with her husband's hardline stance? Ahead.

[00:47:26] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: As you see all the time, politics is hard on a candidate. But you know what? It is often even harder on their loved ones. Is Donald Trump worried about his family? And where has his wife been? Here are his answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: The family, your kids do great. Everybody says you raised them well. They're making their own paths. Have you thought about what it will mean for your kids? Because you know it is a lot of -- even being Trump's kid is something.

TRUMP: Well, some of my family (inaudible). I mean my kids...

CUOMO: But do you think about, man, this is going to be a lot on them.

TRUMP: I sat down with them. I told them. I said, you know, I don't know this is months ago and you known...

CUOMO: But now you are in a very different place.

TRUMP: My wife said something very interesting. She is my pollster, OK? She said, "Do you know if you actually announce you know you are going to win." I said "What?" She said, "I see the reaction."

CUOMO: As a supportive partner by the way.

TRUMP: No, no, it's great. She's either the most wonderful person or she's very smart to say that. But she said, "You know that if you actually announce, because nobody thinks you are going to run, but if you" -- and that's really what happened. Once I announced, people say -- then they said, will he file this paper? And then that paper? Then will he file his financials? And then the financials turned out to be much bigger than anyone thought. You know they thought I wouldn't file the financials. I am very proud. I mean, what I did -- I built an unbelievable company. But she said to me, "Do you know, that if you actually announce, you know you are going to win." I said, "I don't know that." But the response has been pretty amazing.

CUOMO: But what do you -- do you think about that though, like -- you say your wife, is she going to campaign for you? Is she ready to be first lady?

TRUMP: Yes.

CUOMO: She has been quiet on this so far.

TRUMP: She has been and purposely, and you know, I haven't asked her to do anything. And she would certainly like to "Ivanka, you know very well, a lot of respect for you."

CUOMO: Ivanka could be president.

TRUMP: She's got a lot. She could be president and she will be great. She's got a lot of respect for you, got a lot of respect to your brother -- tremendously respect to your brother. I think she will be...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Now I am starting to worry about her. She will be fantastic.

CUOMO: But you think (inaudible) there...

TRUMP: My boys...

CUOMO: You put your kids out there? TRUMP: They want to be out there. They believe in what I am saying and I will say, from the women's health issues standpoint, Melania is unbelievable.

CUOMO: She would want owned something like that?

TRUMP: And Ivanka -- I think she would want to be involved and then she feels strongly, very (inaudible). That's why when she saw Bush the other day, knocking it. It really bothered her that that could happen.

CUOMO: One other thing about her -- when you married her, everybody said the marriage -- you know, the marriage is great. You are a testament to. You know one of the marriages seems to be working these days. When you got married, she became a citizen. She was here working legally...

TRUMP: Right.

CUOMO: Did she ever get mad at you about how you talk about immigrants and say, "Hey, I came over here on a visa, now you want to get rid of me?"

(CROSSTALK)

[00:54:32] TRUMP: She agrees with me, Chris. She went through a long process to become a citizen, it was very tough. And she became -- she went through a long process to become a citizen of this country. And she thinks it is a wonderful process to go through. And when she got it, she was very proud of it. She came from Europe and she was very, very proud of it. And she thinks it's a beautiful process. When it works, now we can expedite. One of the things I really want to do, I want to take in really talented people too. You know in Silicon Valley, they can't get talent. I mean, no matter what you do. You can't get talent and say, I want to take in people, from Europe, from Asia, from all over the world that has talent. If you graduate number one in your class from Harvard or the Wharton School of Finance, or Yale, and you're from another country, they throw you out the country. You can't come back in. I don't want to do that. I want to keep these really talented people. Let them go to Silicon Valley, let them go all over the place because that's what we need. And I want people to come into the country, but I want them to come in legally.

CUOMO: I know you have a big appearance to get in New Hampshire. You got talking about the drug problem. Thank you for taking the time. You are always welcome...

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

CUOMO: To be talking about what matters.

TRUMP: Great honor. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: So there you have it. A different look at what Donald Trump does and does not say about the issues that matter to you. So did he help or hurt his cause? You tell us on social media. Use the #trumponcnn. Thanks for joining us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)