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Trump Denies Posing As His Own Publicist; Clinton Holding Fire on Trump's Attacks; U.S. Tells Schools to Allow Bathroom Choice; bin Laden's Son Calls for Jihad on U.S.; Brazil's Interim President Calls for Unity; Veteran Graduates from USC at 96. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired May 14, 2016 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As Donald Trump looks to the future, he's struggling to dodge some of his past. We'll tell you why tax returns and audiotapes are raising questions about the Republican presidential front-runner.
Son and potential heir to a terror kingpin, we investigate the elevation of Hamza bin Laden to Al Qaeda spokesman and would-be jihadi unifier.
Plus: age ain't nothing but a number. We'll introduce to you the 96- year old collecting his first-ever college diploma.
Check another off the bucket list.
It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. We're live in Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: A denial from the campaign trail: Donald Trump insists he is not John Miller. But not everybody believes him. We are talking about an audio recording from 1991. On it, a man calling himself John Miller and claiming to be Trump's publicist brags about Trump and Trump's sex life.
Trump says it's not him. But listen and judge for yourself.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you this.
DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can tell you this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's probably doing as well as anybody.
TRUMP: I know politics as well as anybody.
I hold up the Bible as well as anybody. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You understand that.
TRUMP: You understand that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's starting to do tremendously well.
TRUMP: She did tremendously well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He paid his wife a great deal of money.
TRUMP: You will see a great deal of cooperation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That is a portion of the recording. So that's one controversial issue the Trump campaign is dealing with right now. But there are others.
Dana Bash has a look at some them plus more on the John Miller recording in this story she filed Friday.
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DANA BASH, CNN SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as Republican leaders are getting more comfortable with Donald Trump, there are reminders that the billionaire at the top of their ticket makes more miles of unchartered political terrain, like his refusal, so far, to release his tax returns.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS: What is your tax rate?
TRUMP: It is none of your business. You will see it when I release. But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible.
BASH: The last GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, dragged his own feet on disclosing his tax returns, but eventually relented. This week, the anti-Trump Romney said withholding his taxes is disqualifying. And today a Republican Party spokesperson told CNN it's up to Trump, but:
SEAN SPICER, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Mr. Trump has got to make a decision sooner rather than about whether or not to release his tax returns.
BASH: On Trump's proposed temporary ban on Muslims, he seemed to soften his stance a bit this week before meeting with Republican leaders who oppose it.
TRUMP: This is just a suggestion until we find out what's going on.
BASH: Today, he insisted he would push the Muslim ban as president.
TRUMP: I'm not the president right now. So anything I suggest is really a suggestion. And if I were president, I would put in legislation and do what I have to do.
BASH: There is some evidence the presumptive GOP nominee is settling into his leadership role.
When a former long-time Trump butler argued President Obama -- quote -- "should have been taken out by our military and shot as an enemy agent," Trump acted fast, saying through a spokeswoman, "We totally and completely disavow the horrible statements made by him regarding the president."
But then a story that would only happen with a tabloid-dogged guy like Trump, not a traditional politician, newly released recordings by "The Washington Post" reviving a suspicion that swirled about Trump from the '90s.
QUESTION: What is your name again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Miller.
BASH: That John Miller was really Trump pretending to be his own spokesman when dealing with reporters questioning his business or messy divorces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you met him?
QUESTION: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a good guy and he's not going to hurt anybody. The one article said he was going to throw her out of the apartment is total nonsense. He is going to always treat her well, as he treated his wife well.
BASH: Today, Trump denied that was him.
TRUMP: I have many, many people that are trying to imitate my voice and you can imagine that. And this sounds like one of the scams, one of the many scams. Doesn't sound like me.
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ALLEN: We'll perhaps find out. Dana Bash reporting for us there.
Trump is engaged on an all-out assault meantime on Democratic front- runner Hillary Clinton. But she is mainly holding her fire, aiming to stay above personal attacks against her opponent. But that strategy can be risky.
Should she take him on?
Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They came to hear Bill Clinton speak in Paterson, New Jersey, but long before the former president arrived, these voters were already fired up.
UNIDENTIFED MALE: Why do you stoop into --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the gutter with someone who wants to bring you there?
KAYE: The gutter is where many of these Hillary Clinton supporters believe Donald Trump is trying to drag her, using personal attacks about her husband's extramarital affairs dating back 20 years.
TRUMP: She was an unbelievably nasty, mean enabler and what she did to a lot of the women was disgraceful.
KAYE: Instead of hitting Trump back on his own personal transgressions, Mrs. Clinton is sticking to the issues.
HILLARY CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said repeatedly, I am not going to respond to the insults and the attacks coming from Donald Trump in this campaign.
KAYE: Is Hillary Clinton playing tough enough?
FRANCINE WISE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Well, I think she's playing tough enough because I don't think slander is the name of this game. I think that she should stay focused on the agenda at hand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't believe in mud slinging. I don't think that helps anyone.
KAYE (voice-over): But not responding to Trump's personal attacks is risky.
KAYE: Are you at all concerned that this could backfire on her? Because look at what happened to the other 16 Republican candidates who did not take on Trump.
SHAYLYNN BIVENS, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Right. I believe as time approaches closely, that she should, you know, maybe take a couple shots, but nothing too extreme because she doesn't want to be anything like Donald Trump.
KAYE: Are you at all concerned that those kinds of things could sink into the American public's view of her if she does not say something?
CHARLES FERRER, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think the American people are intelligent enough to know what to look for, to do their research, to do their homework and not fall into the games of name saying.
KAYE: There's also the question of how Hillary Clinton should handle Donald Trump's harsh words for her husband. Trump has called Bill Clinton the worst abuser of women in the history of politics. Hillary Clinton has not responded to those remarks either.
A few here feel strongly that Ms. Clinton needs to defend her husband and her family. That she's making a big mistake letting Trump, "bully her."
BOB BROWN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: If you don't stand up to a bully, they keep going. For her to sit there, let him get away with it, it's like a cancer. If you don't treat it, it metastasizes then what's going to happen? You're going to die.
KAYE: How exactly should she strike back?
Use Trump's favorite weapon against him, says this supporter.
KAYE: So you think she should go after him on social media?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he's using Twitter, let her use Twitter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would hate to be in her shoes to have to take all that.
KAYE: And staying above the fray may be harder and harder the closer we get to Election Day -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Paterson, New Jersey.
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ALLEN (voice-over): From the ban on Muslims to taking campaign donations now, Donald Trump is definitely changing his tune.
But will he hit sour notes with his supporters?
Join Jonathan Mann for "POLITICAL MANN" right after this show. It's 8:30 in London. That's 3:30 in Hong Kong.
The Obama administration is taking a stand on a growing U.S. controversy. A joint directive from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice contained guidance telling schools to let transgender students use bathrooms matching their gender identity.
Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.
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DAN PATRICK, TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR: We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The federal government calls them guidelines. But several states, including Texas, see them more as a threat.
PATRICK: This goes against the values of so many people. It has nothing to do with anyone being against a transgender child.
VALENCIA: At a Friday morning press conference, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says a line has been crossed by the federal government after the Department of Justice sent a letter on transgender bathroom use in public schools across the United States.
PATRICK: I'm telling all the superintendents of Texas right now -- you have about three weeks left of the school year. Do not enact this policy. VALENCIA: In the letter, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, "There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex."
Under the guidelines, public schools that receive federal money are obligated to treat students consistent with their gender identity, even if their records indicated a different sex, access sex-segregated facilities consistent with a student's gender identity and protect a student's privacy related to their transgender status.
VALENCIA: The action sets the stage for a legal battle that's been in the making since March. House Bill 2 in North Carolina began the recent controversy. The law requires transpeople to use the public restroom related to the gender on their birth certificate, not how they identify.
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VALENCIA: North Carolina and the Feds have traded accusations and lawsuits. Some states, including Arkansas and Texas, insist there's been government overreach. The Feds say civil rights have been violated.
GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: This is not just a North Carolina issue. This is now a national issue.
VALENCIA (voice-over): Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
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ALLEN: To another hot political topic, carrying out the death penalty in the U.S. will likely become even more difficult. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer says it wants nothing to do with being a part of the lethal drug cocktail used in most U.S. executions.
With that, every U.S. drugmaker whose products have been used in executions has said the same thing. Death penalty states are now searching for alternatives.
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ALLEN: We're getting new information suggesting ISIS fighters think they are in trouble in their de facto capital. For months, ISIS militants have come under attack in Raqqah, Syria. Losing that city would be a major blow for the terror group. Here's CNN's Barbara Starr.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military officials have been closely monitoring social media and other reports that ISIS has declared a state of emergency in Raqqa, itself declared capital inside Syria. That is a city that ISIS holds very dear. They've been in control of it for some time. So what does this state of emergency really mean? U.S. officials saying they have some evidence showing ISIS fighters are moving around in the city, some of them trying to leave the city, that they're putting up covers, shades, trying to cover sidewalks, areas where they may be.
All to try and stay hidden from potential air strikes or ground action. ISIS may in fact be getting nervous in Raqqa. They have seen militia movements move closer and closer. Some of the areas surrounding Raqqa now not necessarily under ISIS control.
All of this making the group, maybe for the first time, very nervous about being able to hold on to the city that they consider their capital -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
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ALLEN: A son of late Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, is calling for war on Israel and the U.S. The message is in an audio recording that surfaced this week. CNN's Brian Todd has more on the terror group's so-called crown prince.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He has the name and perhaps the message Al Qaeda needs to rejuvenate its foundering terror brand. Hamza bin Laden, one of Osama bin Laden's 11 sons for years had been missing, off the grid.
But now a new audio message released by the son of the 9/11 mastermind has U.S. officials concerned. The chilling recording discovered by the Site Intelligence Group calls on all jihadis to unite apparently including Al Qaeda's rival, ISIS.
A key goal the young bin Laden says should be to defeat the U.S. and Israel and, quote, "Liberate the Palestinian lands."
HAMZA BIN LADEN, OSAMA BIN LADEN'S SON (through translator): Those who support the Jews must pay the bill with their blood.
TODD: The younger bin Laden is believed to be in his early to mid- 20s. A U.S. intelligence official tells CNN he has a relatively small role in Al Qaeda now, but could be getting groomed for a leadership position. Analysts see Hamza as a sort of crown prince of the terror group.
THOMAS JOSCELYN, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: So they are saying this is the new generation of jihadi leadership. This is the new bin Laden who is going to ultimately lead us in the future.
TODD: One U.S. official tells CNN this looks like an attempt by Al Qaeda to fill gaps in its, quote, "ever dwindling bench." While the group has made gains in Syria, Yemen and North Africa, it has lost several top leaders and been eclipsed by ISIS in capturing the market share of young jihadists. PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: ISIS productions are a million times more interesting than Al Qaeda's very boring, you know, audio messages with very low production values.
TODD: Did Osama bin Laden want Hamza to succeed him? It's not clear. But experts say Hamza spent much of his youth at his father's side and was a true believer. Analyst, Peter Bergen, author of the new book, "United States of Jihad," says the Navy SEALs expected Hamza to be at the Abbottabad compound when they went in after Osama bin Laden in 2011. But Hamza was not there.
BERGEN: In the last months of Osama bin Laden's life, he was writing long memos about his son, Hamza and the need to keep him safe and you know, keep him away from the CIA drones.
TODD: Hamza bin Laden's reemergence comes as new questions are being raised by Al Qaeda's most spectacular attack and who was connected to it.
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TODD: Declassified documents quietly released by the National Archives detailed the questioning by the 9/11 Commission of a former Saudi diplomat.
The document say the Saudi denied a connection to two 9/11 hijackers who had moved to California, but the commission investigators didn't believe him and confronted him with evidence of several phone calls he'd had with a man who had supported the hijackers.
At that point, the documents say the former Saudi diplomat grew angry and nervous.
But there are still questions as to whether there's a real smoking gun with the Saudis and 9/11. One 9/11 Commission member tells CNN, he believes lower level Saudi officials should be investigated further.
But he stands by the commission's finding that no senior Saudi government officials supported Al Qaeda -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: There is a new round of doping allegations against Russian Olympians. Coming up, how an ex-official says a spy agency was involved.
Plus: Brazil's new acting president had his first day on the job. When we come back, a look at the crises he inherited from his suspended predecessor.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: Michel Temer is urging Brazilians to unite and stay calm. The nation's acting president has been in office for one full day amid protests over impeachment proceedings against Dilma Rousseff.
She has been suspended from Brazil's top job. And as Shasta Darlington reports, the interim leader just inherited a minefield of problems.
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SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazilians woke up to a new President on Friday, at least on an interim basis. Michel Temer, he held his first cabinet meeting in the morning. On the one hand, he's tried to slash spending by seriously reducing the number of ministries.
But on the other hand, for the first time since 1979, there isn't a single woman on the cabinet. They're all male and they're all white, something he's already taking flak for.
We also heard from his pick for the finance ministry, former central banker Henrique Meirelles. And he told the press what he thinks are the biggest challenges facing the Brazilian economy right now.
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HENRIQUE MEIRELLES, BRAZILIAN FINANCE MINISTER (through translator): The most important thing, in my opinion, is confidence in relation to the future sustainability of the public debt. That is the ability of Brazil to continue financing itself in the future.
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DARLINGTON: He also countered accusations by the suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, and her supporters that, under Temer, the very popular social programs that lifted millions out of extreme poverty over the last 13 years would be thrown out.
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MEIRELLES (through translator): The social programs will be maintained. There's no doubt about that. Also, because if you take a look at the big --
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MEIRELLES (through translator): -- picture of public spending, the social programs are a small part.
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DARLINGTON: But Temer and his team have serious challenges ahead. The Brazilian economy is in its second year of recession. The corruption probe that has engulfed dozens of politicians in parties across the board continues. We may hear new revelations there and of course the impeachment trial will go on for the next six months, all of this while Brazil tries to get Brazilians and the international community excited about Olympic Games in August -- Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia.
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ALLEN: Russia is denying new allegations it ran a doping program for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the Winter Olympics. A former official claim at least 15 medalists participated in a state-backed doping ring. The ex-director of Russia's anti-doping lab made the allegations to "The New York Times."
He said government agents replaced tainted urine samples. The Kremlin calls the charges "defamation by a defector." Our Matthew Chance has more from Moscow.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it just keeps getting worse for Russian athletics. The latest allegations detailing a complex doping conspiracy at the 2014 Sochi Olympics involving dozens of Russian athletes, including at least 15 medal winners.
In a "New York Times" report, the former head of Russia's anti-doping agency described a massive, highly organized doping operation involving the Russian security services, the sports ministry as well, in which the urine of athletes was replaced before it could be tested.
Now the allegations have cast a further shadow over the Sochi Games, at which Russia was the biggest medal winner.
Denials at this point have been coming in thick and fast. The Russian sports minister called the allegations a "major shock" and questioned their source. The former anti-doping head, Grigory Rodchenkov, left his job shortly after the allegations of doping first emerged and he fled to the United States.
The Kremlin says the allegations sound like ungrounded statements and look like slander from a defector.
There's also been a news conference here with two of the athletes named in the scandal, rejecting the allegations as "nonsense" and "slanderous."
But in fact these are only the latest in a series of doping allegations against Russia. The World Anti-Doping Agency accuses the country of running a state-sponsored doping program and Russian athletes are already banned from international competition.
Latest revelations may further damage this country's sporting image -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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ALLEN: Derek Van Dam is here because he's got some hopeful news for India.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, definitely. There is a new tropical disturbance that could bring some desperately needed rainfall for that area. We have been talking about the drought that's impacted that region, the heat. This is an annual event.
It's just that they are coming off of two successive years of below average monsoonal rains that has led to this significant drought.
Look at my graphics here and you will be able to see just what they are having to deal with in Central and Southeastern India, dried-up riverbeds. This is tough because so many people rely on these rivers not only for fish but also for their fresh drinking water.
What's happening here?
And what's to come?
Well, this is the potential for a tropical disturbance just south and east of Sri Lanka starting to gain some momentum and some organization.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center doesn't have much confidence that this will make its way into a full-fledged cyclone. However, depending on which computer model you agree with, this is the global forecast model, an American model, that has the system actually moving across the east coast of the India.
The European model actually has it move across Sri Lanka and the southern tip of India, stalling out over the extreme southern portions of the subcontinent. And that could bring some substantial rainfall to this drought-stricken region. You can see some of the rainfall totals going forward over the next few days.
One thing's for certain: some places will get rain going forward, much needed rain.
Now to a part of the world that has had a little bit too much rain, over 100 mm in the past 24 hours, Southwestern China. Take a look at some of the footage coming out of this region and you'll see what they have had to content with, flooding roads, people trying to get on with their day-to-day activities.
But plowing through water like that with your vehicle, not the best idea. We've got that slogan here in the United States, "Turn around, don't drown." You never know how deep the water can be.
Getting back to my graphics, this is the situation across this area. We have the Meiyu-Baiu rains. This is the East Asian rainfall season and it's all thanks to a stationary frontal boundary that forms across this area. It's kind of this a pull-push idea between the two air masses, cool, dry air from the north and warm Pacific air from the south --
[03:25:00] VAN DAM: -- and east. This is also known as the plum rains, coinciding with the ripening of the plums across this part of the world. It does produce extremely heavy rainfall for Southeast China into Japan and portions of Korea as well, depending on the time of the year.
I'm going to end with this, some phenomenal footage coming out of Central Costa Rica, a volcano has erupted. Nothing new there but this imaging sure is. This is known as thermal image camera used in this volcanic eruption. Those bright colors, Natalie, indicating temperatures of 530 degrees Celsius-plus, the volcano spewed lava and stone as long as 2 meters into the sky.
ALLEN: You can appreciate it.
VAN DAM: Can appreciate it from a distance but I certainly wouldn't want to be anywhere close to that.
ALLEN: Beautiful. All right, Derek, thank you.
VAN DAM: Thank you.
ALLEN: Well here's one for you, at 96 years old, Alfonso Gonzales has lived long enough to cross plenty of accomplishments off his bucket list.
On Friday, he added a college diploma. Gonzales became the oldest University of Southern California graduate ever.
Our affiliate KTLA has the story.
DAVE MECHAM, KTLA 5 NEWS (voice-over): He is a terrific role model for the power of lifelong learning. Congratulations, Alfonso, for this long --
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MECHAM (voice-over): And a fight on at USC's Leonard David School of Gerontology graduation, people on their feet; history was made at ASC's 133rd commencement.
ALFONSO GONZALEZ, USC GRADUATE: It took me 65 years to complete my studies but I did.
MECHAM: It's got to be a great feeling.
GONZALES: Oh, it is a great feeling.
MECHAM (voice-over): Born in Lompoc, the central coast, Alfonzo Gonzalez graduated from Redondo Union High School in 1939. Then came the war. He would serve in both the Navy and as a Marine. In Okinawa, he would work as a medic.
Then in 1947, off to USC, studying zoology, set to graduate in '53. But as life does, plans change; work called and his successful Torrance business would take off selling soil for gardens and such while all these years later family pushed the long-time Hermosa Beach resident to take the leap and finish things off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just been a journey for him all over again to come back to SC and earn his degree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, he has been beaming. He has had a smile from ear to ear.
MECHAM (voice-over): So a first for the University of Southern California, there in the cap and gown and the fight on in the mix, what a day for this hit with fellow grads.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was actually in my new technologies class, incredible.
MECHAM (voice-over): And chatting with Alfonso, who friends call "Ponchy," we both agreed it's a kick to go back to school, sharing the experience with those from very different generations.
GONZALES: Oh, yes, it is. They asked me a lot of questions and I asked them a lot of questions.
MECHAM: Dave Mecham, KTLA 5 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Ninety-six years old.
How great is that?
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