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Donald Trump Denies Posing as His Own Publicist; Donald Trump Says Muslim Ban Only a Suggestion; Bernie Sanders Claims He's a Better Candidate Versus Trump; Travelers, Airports Frustrated Over Long Screening Lines. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:01] CUOMO: Boy, oh boy.

BERMAN: Good for them.

CUOMO: And the man, Rashad, said it right. They say they're just doing their job.

BOLDUAN: Amazing.

CUOMO: But their job meant the world to me.

BERMAN: All right. Time for "NEWSROOM" now with Carol Costello. Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much. Busy working here, but you guys have a great weekend. Thanks so much.

NEWSROOM starts now.

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

The charm offensive continues. Right now Donald Trump and his campaign aides, they'll meet with House Republicans to solidify their support. You know, and this call for unity. But Mr. Trump has other matters to contend with this morning.

A surprising "Washington Post" report says there is a lot of evidence that back in the 1990s, Donald Trump posed as his own public relations person when he talked with reporters. In other words he used a phony name when he talked with these reporters and marketed himself.

Here is audio of one of those calls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your position there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'm sort of handling PR because he gets so much of it. And frankly --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I could tell you off the record.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until I get to know you, off the record, I can tell you that he didn't care if he got bad PR until he got his divorce finished.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of comment is this coming from your agency? From Donald?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it just that he really decided that he wasn't, you know, he didn't want to make any commitment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Our senior political reporter Manu Raju is following the story. He has more for you from Washington.

Good morning, Manu.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Now this apparently was something pretty common for New York reporters and editors to hear in the early part of Donald Trump's career, according to this "Washington Post" report that oftentimes, these reporters or editors would get a phone call back when they're working on an article about Donald Trump from somebody either John Baron or a John Miller, and this person would be talking about how wonderful Donald Trump was. They'd talk about his love life, when those are the questions that the reporters were asking about, his business dealings, and the like.

And take a listen for yourself about whether or not you think this is Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's just that he really decided that he wasn't, you know, he didn't want to make a commitment. He really thought it was too soon. He's coming out of a marriage, and he's starting to do tremendously well financially. As you saw, he got his licenses five to nothing the other day and totally unanimous. And he's really been working hard and doing well. And probably, as you know, there's a real estate depression in the United States and he's probably doing as well as anybody there is. And frankly, he wants to keep it that way. And he just thought it was too soon to make any commitment to anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what is going to happen when -- is she being asked to leave or is she going to be allowed to stay?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he treats everybody well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, you don't know him but he's a --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I have met him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you met him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a good guy and he's not going to hurt anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So Donald Trump was actually asked about this on NBC's "Today" show earlier today and he insisted this was not him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It was not me on the phone. And it doesn't sound like me on the phone. I will tell you that. And it was not me on the phone. And when was this? 25 years ago?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the early '90s? But -- yes.

TRUMP: Wow. You mean you're going so low as to talk about something that took place 25 years ago about whether or not I made a phone call? I guess you're saying under a presumed name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, under a presumed name.

TRUMP: OK, well, OK. The answer is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So the question is whether or not this has any impact on the political campaign that of course has rewritten all rules. I'm not sure if it does. But you know, Donald Trump is of course under water with female voters and he said things about his love life that probably won't play particularly well for that voting bloc and it also really underscores that, you know, he is a man who of course has never been a politician in his life. He said a lot of controversial things, particularly living a sort of flamboyant lifestyle that he has and being through the tabloids and the like and probably these kinds of things will continue to come up over the next several months, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Manu Raju, reporting live from Capitol Hill this morning.

I want to bring in Kayleigh McEnany, a Trump supporter, and Matt Lewis, a senior contributor to the "Daily Caller."

Welcome to both of you. Matt, you know, I'll just be -- I don't know what to think of this. What do you think?

MATT LEWIS, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, DAILY CALLER: Well, first, let me say, I don't think that listening to the audio on television does it justice. Earlier today, I listened to an eight-minute clip, this "Washington Post," you know, report put out an eight-minute long clip. I listened to it with earplugs in -- earphones in. So I think I got a better sense in eight minutes. I've been listening to Donald Trump talk now for years, but especially for the last six months. And I got to hear eight minutes of him talking under -- well, I think it was him talking under this name, John Miller.

And it's really uncanny. I mean, maybe it wasn't Donald Trump, but if not the mannerisms, the way that he spoke, it really does sound like Donald Trump. And I don't think the audio clips on TV really do that justice.

[09:05:06] COSTELLO: And I don't know if we made it clear enough exactly what -- I mean, John Miller or maybe Donald Trump was talking about on those phone calls, but it was when he was in the midst of a divorce from Ivana, right? And he was moving on to Marla Maples but he hasn't quite decided whether he was going to marry her or not, right? So --

LEWIS: And the weird -- yes. And the weird thing is that the use of the third person, like Donald is a very good guy. Mr. Trump is incredibly classy, and of course, we think it's Donald Trump actually saying it. So it's utterly bizarre that this would come out. But of course, he completely denies it.

COSTELLO: Yes. And also, this John Miller on the phone, Kayleigh, and I'll let you respond to this. And I'm just reading from the "Washington Post" article. This John Miller liked to brag about all of the beautiful actresses that liked to throw themselves at Mr. Trump, actresses, Miller said in this call to this reporter, they just call to see if they can go out with him and things. Madonna wanted to go out with him. Trump's alter ego also boasted that in addition to living with Maples, Trump had three other girlfriends.

What do you make of this, Kayleigh? Does it bother you as a Trump supporter?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Look, I mean, we're speculating that this is actually Trump's voice. First of all there is no proof of that, I'd like to point out. And I'm less concerned with statements Donald Trump made 25 years ago that may or may not have been his voice.

I'm a little more concerned with the statements Hillary Clinton made four years ago. We just heard Steve King come on this program and say she blatantly lied in a classified hearing as to the motives of Benghazi to Congress. That would be -- that's essentially perjury. She lied in Congress --

COSTELLO: Well, let's -- that's deflecting.

MCENANY: No, it's not deflecting and I wish --

COSTELLO: Yes, it's deflecting. Of course it is.

MCENANY: I wish these publications like the "Washington Post" would use half of a prying eye on Hillary Clinton, would use half of their resources to devote to the lies of Hillary Clinton and they will find a treasure trove of things that they choose not to report because they seem to have a vendetta against Donald Trump. It's completely unfair. It's completely biased that these publications do this.

COSTELLO: OK. Is --

LEWIS: I will say one thing. I think Kayleigh is absolutely right about one thing. This speaks really -- to me, this speaks to being disingenuous. And Hillary Clinton, if you do go back and watch her video of her with the southern accent, that's what this really reminds me of more than anything else, is her pretending to be this Arkansas, you know, southern gal.

COSTELLO: From Chicago, right?

MCENANY: From under sniper fire when she in fact was not.

COSTELLO: OK. But is it a vendetta by the "Washington Post"? Is it a fair story, Matt?

LEWIS: Well, look, I think it's absolutely fair. I don't think it's going to move that many voters because look, if you like Donald Trump, this is baked into the cake. He does weird, bizarre things. He is a showman. He likes to troll the media. This maybe helps him amongst his supporters.

If you're people like me, who are skeptical of Trump and a little bit scared of Donald Trump frankly, this is like one more piece of evidence that you've compiled that says, like, this guy is, you know, this is bizarre, weird behavior to pose allegedly but you know, it seemingly to pose as an alter ego. It's -- you know, so I don't think that it moves the needle. I think it hardens opinions about Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

LEWIS: But it's -- that's legitimate.

MCENANY: The fact it looks really, I think it will backfire, because here is the thing. It looks entirely desperate when you are digging through this man's past, going 25 years back, finding anything and everything you can use to try to depict him as dishonest or a liar, I think voters think that this is silly. I think voters care about jobs, they care about terrorism, they don't care about this. And I think it looks very desperate and will end up backfiring and end up helping Trump in the end.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's talk about issues. That's a good segue, Kayleigh. Because everybody is talking about Donald Trump's Muslim ban and how he is sort of backing away that he would ban Muslims from coming into this country because there could be exceptions. He was also asked that a lot about -- a lot on the morning shows this morning. Here is what he said on the "Today" show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I'm not the president right now. So anything I suggest is really a suggestion and if I were president, I'd put in legislation and do what I have to do. MATT LAUER, TODAY SHOW HOST: But would you put in legislation --

TRUMP: No, I'm looking at it very strongly. We have an Islamic -- we have really a problem with radical Islamic terrorism. And we have a president that doesn't want to use the term. He refuses to use the term, even though there are so many problems. I mean, he refuses to use it with the World Trade Center.

LAUER: But I'm just getting to the point, are you softening your stance and using subtle differences in words simply to be more moderate to try to attract people like Speaker Ryan and to get an endorsement?

TRUMP: No, I'm not softening my stance at all but I'm always flexible on issues. I am totally flexible on very, very many issues and I think you have to be that way. But I'm not softening my stance. We have a major problem and we have to look at the problem. We have to solve the problem. We have a president that doesn't even talk about the problem. He won't even use the words. He won't even call it by its right name.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Kayleigh, when Donald Trump says it's a suggestion, what does he mean?

MCENANY: Well, I think he means what he said in many of the debates which is he is flexible on things. You have to be flexible. That's how you get things done in this country.

[09:10:01] You don't get things done by being recalcitrant and not reaching out to Congress the way the current president has. So he is going to suggest these things. We know where he stands. He wants to secure the border. He wants to protect the country, he wants to renegotiate the trade deals. Those are the principles. But yes, he is going to be flexible with Congress and these things are suggestions.

COSTELLO: But don't voters, Kayleigh, want to know how he's going to do that? I mean, he wants to secure our border by banning Muslims and building the wall. Aren't those more than suggestions? Shouldn't they be more than suggestions?

MCENANY: They're proposals. That's the thing. I mean, I think that voters know where he stands. They know the things he's going to put before Congress, but who knows where it's going to end up at the end of the day. At the end of the day it's a negotiation and it's a compromise.

COSTELLO: So I guess as a voter, like I'm just trying to take myself out of the reporter box, and I'm listening to my candidate and he's just giving me a bunch of suggestions, which may or may not happen, don't you want someone who can make things happen?

MCENANY: I want someone who says what they stand and they have principles. Likewise, Hillary Clinton. we can sit here and talk about how she's flipped on trade, how she supported TPP, while she was secretary of state. Now all of a sudden she's against it. I don't quite frankly know where she stands because it seems like when a majority of the country gets on one side of the issue, she flips, be it same-sex marriage or the Iraq war.

COSTELLO: And that's why -- that's why voters are so frustrated with politicians. So I'm just trying to, like, figure out what exactly Mr. Trump means. What do you think, Matt?

LEWIS: Yes, it's unclear to me where either of these -- these are two incredibly unlikable -- sorry. These are two incredibly unlikable candidates. I don't really know where either of them stands at the end of the day. And I do think Donald Trump is softening now, and he goes back and forth. And I just have to say, I think Paul Ryan, this may be part of the seduction of Paul Ryan and keep in mind -- in six months Donald Trump could be a losing candidate. And you can have a Republican Party looking around saying, hey, you know, it didn't work with Donald Trump. Maybe we need to finally win some Hispanic voters and some women voters.

And if Paul Ryan allows his message, his sort of more compassionate conservative message to now be co-opted by Donald Trump, then he's going to be in a less enviable position come six months if Trump in fact goes down to Hillary Clinton.

MCENANY: But here's the thing, Matt, the most damage I think that's been done to the Republican Party is Mitt Romney being leaked -- a tape being leaked of him saying that he is dismissing 47 percent of the electorate because they're dependant on government, because they're always going to vote with the president.

Donald Trump has come into this party and said no, I'm going out for every voter. I think people should have health care. I think women should have health funding. I am standing and I'm making this party more compassionate to stark contrast Mitt Romney. I think that statement did more damage than anything Donald Trump has done in this election.

COSTELLO: All right. I've got to leave it there. Kayleigh McEnany, Matt Lewis, thanks to both of you.

LEWIS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: How appropriate to see Bernie Sanders at Mount Rushmore this week. His campaign seems to be caught between a rock and a mathematically impossible place as Hillary Clinton nomination is almost carved in stone. Some Democrats say he's a zombie candidate with no chance of getting the nomination. And they're wondering why he is still trying.

But Sanders says he is the stronger candidate. He is the one who can beat Donald Trump. And now a group of Sanders supporters reportedly wants him to concede to Clinton and make an independent run.

CNN's Chris Frates is in Washington with more on that. Good morning. CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. You're

absolutely right. Bernie Sanders took his long shot campaign to South Dakota yesterday, firing up his faithful with reasons to believe that he can still beat Hillary Clinton.

Now it is mathematically impossible, as you point out, for Sanders to win enough delegates in the remaining contests to clinch this nomination. So Sanders is instead arguing that he could win more pledged delegates than Clinton when the primaries end next month but even that's a pretty high bar. Sander would need to win 67 percent of the remaining pledged delegates to beat Clinton by just one delegate.

And even then, Sanders would need super delegates. Those are the party bigwigs who also get a vote at the convention. He would need them to flip their support from Clinton to Sanders in order to win. And that's very, very unlikely.

Now Sanders is still arguing that he is the candidate best positioned to take on and beat Donald Trump. But when pressed about it yesterday, he acknowledged that Clinton could also defeat the presumptive GOP nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not here to say that Hillary Clinton can't defeat Donald Trump. I absolutely believe that he she can. But I believe that quite honestly that Bernie Sanders is the stronger candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Now Clinton has maintained a lower profile than Sanders over the past couple of days. Her only event yesterday was a meeting with AIDS-HIV activists at her Brooklyn headquarters, and she has no events scheduled today. Meanwhile, Sanders will be in Bismarck and Fargo, North Dakota -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Chris Frates, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, troubles with the TSA. Frustrated flyers, airlines and airports angry over long lines. Screeners shortages. Is there a solution?

[09:14:55]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Long security waits, missed flights, maybe it's travel nightmare that sounds all too familiar. Take a look at this. This is from Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport right at this moment. You see the security lines? Yes. I feel for you, people.

With the busy summer travel season fast approaching, those screening lines are sure to get even longer. Look at what it looked like yesterday at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Three thousand pieces of luggage. Some piled up in a parking lot after a computer glitch took down the TSA screening machines. The glitch has been fixed but not before some of that luggage had to be shipped as far away as Vegas just to get screened.

I know, your blood is boiling, right? The head of the TSA is expected to address those growing frustrations at a news conference later today. But let's talk about it now with CNN aviation analyst and former DOT inspector general, Mary Schiavo.

Hi, Mary.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Why is this happening now?

SCHIAVO: Well, it's happening right now because of the vast increase in travel that happens every year in the summer peak season and the high seas.

[09:20:06] And now the TSA should be prepared for it and should be ready for it. But to put it in perspective, they screen 710 million passengers a year and two billion pieces of bags, and that increases every year by about 40 million passengers and bags at about 20 percent. So they are seeing rapid increases in travel because of the cost and availability, and they haven't kept pace with the demand.

COSTELLO: It's just -- like in Atlanta, sometimes people have to wait in line for three hours to get through security. That's just -- that's just crazy. In New York, it's not much better. The New York Port Authority, it oversees the New York City's -- the New York City three airports, it wrote a letter, essentially threatening to fire the TSA and replace it with private companies. Atlanta's airport did the very same thing. So is privatizing the TSA the answer?

SCHIAVO: No, privatizing is not the answer. There are a few airports in the United States that have it and they did that by with special permission to do that. There were tests and pilot programs. So people have to remember, when we had privatized airport security on September 11th, 2001, we had no calibrated or good equipment, no oversight, no good training, our screeners in many cases weren't even citizens, and in some cases, as we learned in the 9/11 litigation, we didn't even know who really they were.

We didn't have trained security personnel. And so the TSA was formed in November 2001, and it's easy to say well, the TSA is a disaster, but the statistics on the security side have changed. And you remember that's a law enforcement function. Before September 11th and just the 18 months before September 11th, .2001, we had 30 cockpit intrusions. In the 30 years leading up to September 11th, we had 109 domestic hijackings and 53 foreign hijackings -- this is just U.S. carriers.

So things have changed dramatically with the TSA and what people need do is get their TSA pre-check. It's is under 100 bucks and you go through the TSA pre-check lines, and the TSA is committed not to clog those with high paying passengers, to save it for TSA pre-check people. COSTELLO: It's beautiful. I have it and I love it. I want to ask

you a question about the TSA.

SCHIAVO: Me too. And I love it.

COSTELLO: I do. I love it. A lot of people knock the TSA. They believe it's just luck that something dire has not happened in the air, with -- you know, with security, with a bomb getting through. It's just luck. The TSA is so inept they probably didn't have anything to do with it. I hear that all the time. What do you say?

SCHIAVO: Well, I say no, because of what the statistics show. I mean, just in terms of their success and the number of guns, 2700 guns a year, that is increasing dramatically every year and the fact that we have been able to thwart or to stop or to divert the terrorist attack. Now that's not to say I think that they have blinked. I don't. I think the system is blinking red again, just like before September 11th, 2001. But most likely, the holes that terrorists will exploit will be the parts of the airport that do not have security coverage.

Most of the airport workers report for work every day without going through screening, as in the attacks overseas, terrorists have exploited those loopholes. So those have to be closed and the TSA does not have the capability of doing that. They don't have the personnel or the money so that loophole has to be close and the TSA effectiveness has to be increased. They still miss test weapons going through the test. The Office of Inspector General still does testing, great testing, they do a great job at trying to find the problems with them. And the TSA still fails.

Those must be closed, particularly now given the world events. So I don't give the TSA a pass but they are so much better than what we had on September 11th, 2001 that I don't think you should throw them out just because they're having problems. We have to fix them and keep them improving them. But boy, we can't go back to a private system like we had before. It was a disaster called 9/11.

COSTELLO: Mary Schiavo, thanks so much.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Checking some other top stories for you at 24 minutes past, we could find out in the next hour if the gun used to kill Treyvon Martin will still be up for auction. George Zimmerman originally listed the weapon on Gun Broker, but the Web site later pulled the plug on that sale. The second Web site, United Gun Group, also said it would not list the gun, but the group's founder later told CNN an official decision will be made later this morning. We'll keep you posted.

The officer in charge of 10 American sailors who wandered into Iran's territorial waters in January has been fired from his job. The Navy says other personnel could still face disciplinary action. The sailors were detained by Iran for about 15 hours. The diplomatic mess almost caused a last minute snag in securing the Iran nuclear deal. Trial resumes today for one of six Baltimore police officers charged

in the death of Freddie Gray. Two other officers also charged in the case may be forced to testify.

[09:25:03] During opening statements on Thursday prosecutors said Edward Nero did not follow proper training protocols while making the controversial arrest. The defense argues the officer was not even involved in Gray's apprehension.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, public schools that are confused about how to treat transgender students get some assistance from the federal government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Just minutes ago, the White House raised the stakes. The fight over public restrooms and transgender rights. The administration has just issued guidance to public schools amid intense nationwide debate. The guidelines will say a student's preferred gender identity must be respected or the school -- or the school could lose federal funding. At issue, which bathrooms and locker rooms transgender students can use. The debate drew a standing room only crowd last night at a North Georgia high school, with emotions running high on all sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER EDEN, TRANSGENDER FORMER STUDENT: I was beaten up by two males.