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EgyptAir Crash Investigation; Trump Gets NRA Endorsement. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired May 20, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:02]

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I would like to see what that lists consists of. And you will see, it's day and night, OK, day and night. And it will not be good for the people in this room.

And it won't be good, by the way, for the people of our country, most importantly.

So, Americans use guns to defend themselves against violent crime more than a million times a year, OK, more than a million times a year. And they want to take them away. Heartless hypocrites like the Clintons want to take this and they want to get rid of guns, and yet they have bodyguards that have guns.

So, I think that, in addition to calling for them to name judges, we will also call them and let their bodyguards immediately disarm.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: OK? No, they should immediately disarm. And let's see how good they do. Let's see how they feel walking around without their guns on their bodyguards.

In the meantime, nobody else can have the guns, right? President Obama tried to take the guns from law-abiding Americans, but has reduced prosecutions of violent criminals who use guns. President Obama is even releasing violent criminals from the jails, including drug dealers and those with gun crimes. And they're being let go by the thousands, by the thousands.

Many of these are also -- I'm sure you are not going to be surprised to hear this -- illegal immigrants. President Obama pushed for changes to sentencing laws that released thousands of dangerous drug- trafficking felons and gang members who prey on civilians.

And I want to tell you, I have really learned a lot about the border. In fact, two weeks ago, you probably saw, 16,500 Border Patrol agents endorsed Donald Trump.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And we have gotten great endorsements. To have the endorsement from NRA today and to have the endorsement from the Border Patrol agents, and I was talking to them.

These are incredible people that want to do their job. That's why they're endorsing me. They could just sort of -- they're told to stand back. Don't do it. They want to do their job. These are incredible people.

It's the first time they have ever endorsed a presidential candidate, and 16,500. So, I'm really honored by that.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: This is Hillary Clinton's agenda, too, to release the violent criminals from jail. She wants them all released. She wants people released that you wouldn't want to walk on the street with, you wouldn't want to look at.

And whether it's Kate in San Francisco, you see what happened there, or Jamiel. I have become great friends with his father. Jamiel was shot in the face three times by somebody that wasn't supposed to be here.

Or -- and I always say this, because this was tragic -- a 65-year-old veteran, a woman who was a great woman, raped, sodomized and killed by an illegal immigrant, wasn't supposed to be here. We're going to straighten it out.

And, by the way, this doesn't have to do with guns, per se, but maybe it has to do with a lot of other things. We are going to build a wall. It is going to be a great wall. We are going to have borders again.

People are going to come into the country, but they're coming into the country legally, folks. They're coming in legally.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We are going to keep our borders open.

And I will tell you, they will be open when people come in legally. Now, Hillary wants to just keep them open. Anybody can come across. And that's what's been happening. And the crime is violent and a lot. And lots of other things are happening with the drugs pouring across.

So, she is putting the most vulnerable Americans in jeopardy. And this is a risk that we can no longer afford. We have had enough. I think we have had enough. Wouldn't you say we have had like...

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: In trying to overturn the Second Amendment, Hillary Clinton is telling everyone and every women living in a dangerous community that she doesn't have the right to defend herself.

So, you have a woman living in a community, a rough community, a bad community. Sorry, you can't defend yourself. That is so unfair, and that is so egregious. And I'll tell you what. My poll numbers with women are starting to go up. I never thought of

it. This should really lift them up, right? Starting to go up. I will say, my poll numbers with men are through the roof. But I like women more than men. Come on, women, let's go. Come on.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And most people know that about me. Most people know that.

This is the most basic human right of all, but Hillary wants to strip it away and strip it away from women, and all others.

[15:05:03]

Hillary Clinton will release violent criminals from jail more so than even Obama. She has a more open policy than Obama, if that's possible. And put innocent Americans at risk. I'm going to put criminals behind bars and guarantee that law-abiding Americans have the self-defense, 100 percent.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you.

There are 13 million right-to-carry permit-holders in the United States. I happen to be one of them. In the past -- nobody knows that. Boy, would I surprise somebody if they hit Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: If I wasn't -- if I wasn't surrounded by, like, the largest group of Secret Service people -- who, by the way, are fantastic people, and our police are fantastic, fantastic people.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We have to give a standing ovation to our police. We have to. They are fantastic people.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Amazing. They do such a great job. They are so unfairly treated.

But they know. And they know how the people feel about them. Thank you. That's great.

In the past 30 years, the number of right-to-carry states has gone up seven-fold. These are among the most law-abiding folks statistically in the entire country. So, they have the right to carry. They are among the most law -- you know, they do statistics on everything, right, everything.

And these are among the most law -- in fact, they are like at the top of the list. In Florida, for example, they have issued more than three million conceal-carry permits in the past 30 years. Only 168 have been revoked. That's .006 percent, so very, very, very few, and just no difficulty.

Hillary wants to go into the opposite direction. She said that President Obama didn't go far enough when he executed this order, when he signed this order. And he's not going far enough. He has gone so far. He has gone too far. We're going to stop it.

And we will unsign lots of different things, including some of those terrible executive orders. Believe me, they are going to be unsigned so fast. They will be unsigned the first hour that I'm in office, in the first hour that I'm in office.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Hillary's pledged to issue new anti-gun executive orders. You know that. This is the behavior, I mean, you could say of, a dictator.

This is the behavior of somebody, frankly, I think that doesn't know what she's doing. She's not equipped to be president in so many different ways. But this is the thinking of a person that is not equipped to be the president of the United States. Believe me, she doesn't understand it. Bad judgment, we talk about it. She's got bad judgment. You know where it came from.

It came from me. It also came from her current opponent, who's doing pretty well. I will tell you, you talk about a rigged system. He wins every week, and he keeps losing. I think Bernie should run as an independent, OK? Let him run.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I do. I would love him to run as an independent.

Then it would be the three of us on the stage. I would love that. The Second Amendment is on the ballot in November. The only way to save our Second Amendment is to vote for a person that you all know named Donald Trump. OK?

I will tell you, I will never let you down. I will protect our Second Amendment. I will protect our country. Our military will be strong. Our borders will be enforced. We will get rid of Common Core, which is a disaster. We will bring -- we will bring education local.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So important. Our education is a mess. We're going to get rid of Obamacare. We're going to have a great, great plan as a substitute. Obamacare is out of control.

The new costs, as you know, they are going to be revealed on November 1. They are going to be through the roof. And, by the way, don't let this happen. We will have to speak to Mitch. Obama is trying to get it delayed until after the election. The new costs will be revealed on November 1, unless he gets it changed.

[15:10:08] They will be so astronomical and will show what a total failure and

disaster Obamacare is. We will repeal it and we will replace it with something great, OK? Believe me.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We're going to have strong borders, and we're going to make the greatest trade deals.

Every country worldwide, every country in the world is ripping off our great country, like we're children, like taking candy from a baby. Our trade deals will be renegotiated. We won't be having trade deficits of $500 billion a year with China anymore, folks. They won't be taking our jobs out of here and Kentucky and lots of other places, every place.

They won't be taking our jobs and bringing them into Mexico, like with Nabisco, where they leave Chicago, moving to Mexico, and so many other countries, companies. Carrier, you look at Carrier air conditioning, just left Indiana. They're leaving Indiana. They're moving to Mexico. That's not happening with me, because when they make their air conditioners and they sell them across our now very strong border, believe me, they're going to pay a tax.

And they're going to say, we're not moving to Mexico anymore. It's so simple. It's so simple.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So, we're going to have -- we're going to have great trade agreements. We are going to become a strong nation again. We are going to save our Social Security. We are going to save our Medicare.

We are going to be so proud of this country. You're going to be proud of your president, but I don't care about that. You are going to be proud of your country again. And we are going to start winning again, because we don't win anymore. We never win. We don't win on trade. We don't win with the military.

We can't beat ISIS. Believe me, we're going to knock the hell out of is. We have no choice.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We're going to knock the hell out of ISIS.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So, we are going to start winning again, and I have fun saying it, and I say it a lot, but there's nothing better.

And some of you have heard it, but we are going to win, win, win. We are going to win with military. We are going to win at the borders. We are going to win with trade. We are going to win at everything.

And some of you are friends. And you're going to call. You're going to say, Mr. President, please, we can't take it anymore. We can't win anymore like this. Mr. President, you're driving us crazy. You're winning too much. Please, Mr. President, not so much.

And I'm going to say, I'm sorry, we are going to keep winning because we are going to make America great again.

Thank you. We love you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, Kentucky. Thank you, everybody.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Thank you.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, listen to that crowd.

Donald Trump saying thank you, says he is going to keep winning, referred to himself as Mr. President. There he is in Louisville, Kentucky. Standing ovation there. He hit on all kinds of things.

First off, he came up after being officially endorsed by the NRA, the National Rifle Association, said it was a fabulous honor. Got a huge applause when he said he wanted to get rid of gun-free zones really out of the gate, said his presumed opponent, Hillary Clinton, wants to abolish the Second Amendment.

We will get into Secretary Clinton's stance on the Second Amendment in just a second. Referred to as crooked Hillary over and over, heartless Hillary, called on the former secretary of state to release her own list of potential Supreme Court justices, as we saw Mr. Trump did earlier in this week with his 11 names.

Said he is going to knock the hell out of ISIS. And if I may, he also said the media is among some of the most dishonest people I have met.

And if I may, he doesn't waste any time picking up the phone to call members of the media whatsoever. Just saying.

I have Sara Murray standing by and M.J. Lee as well.

M.J. Lee, to you first. That was like vintage Donald Trump, getting the crowd fired up, conservative crowd, dropping a lot of red meat along the way. What did you make of it?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: A ton of red meat.

Look, this is an influential endorsement from the NRA. The NRA obviously is a very powerful and influential group. Conservatives sort of look for cues from the group to get a sense of, is a candidate conservative or not, especially of course on the issues of protecting Second Amendment rights.

I thought it was fascinating listening actually to Wayne LaPierre, who spoke before Donald Trump while making this announcement and this endorsement. He called this a moment, a moment for the party to come together. He said that if we don't stand together and if we don't elect this man essentially as our next president, our freedoms will be gone.

[15:15:03]

And something else that Chris Cox, who's a top NRA lobbyist, said that I thought was so fascinating was, if your preferred candidate dropped out of the race, it's time to get over it, so essentially calling on folks who are still having doubts and concerns about Donald Trump to say drop it, it's time to come together and really focus on taking on Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: M.J. Lee, thank you.

Sara Murray, Sara Murray, there in the room, I can still hear the applause, Sara Murray. How did it feel for you hearing it in person?

SARA MURRAY, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, it's interesting, because, of course, we know in the past Donald Trump has not been quite as strident in protecting gun rights.

He called for increased background checks in a 2000 book. He called for a couple other restrictions. And he has really changed that entirely since taking to the campaign trail, essentially saying that the answer to gun violence is for more people to have weapons in more places.

You saw him come out today and say he doesn't want any more gun-free zones. He said that wasn't even in his written notes for his prepared remarks. He was just sort of saying that off the cuff, which I guess will be a new policy proposal for him.

And I think it's interesting to see how he has really changed his perception among this group of folks. There really wasn't any reservation, as you see today, from the NRA in throwing their support behind Donald Trump. And I think they really look at him and say, look, there's no way they were going to endorse Hillary Clinton, no way they were going to endorse Bernie Sanders.

And this was a moment for the NRA to say to its membership, your preferred candidate might not be here anymore, but this guy is going to be a better alternative for what we care about for the Second Amendment than Clinton, than Bernie Sanders.

BALDWIN: Sara Murray, thank you so much.

Let me bring in a Republican and a Democrat to broaden this out.

Boris Epshteyn, a Republican strategist and former aide to Senator John McCain. And CNN political commentator Angela Rye used to serve as executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Welcome to both of you.

BORIS EPSHTEYN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, Boris, let me just begin with you.

To Sara Murray's point, Mr. Trump once did express support for assault weapon bans. I was just reading an interview from when he was on CNN with Larry King in 1989 furthering his support for that, some of his frustration that guns do fall in the hands of bad people.

The about-face, how do you explain that to conservatives who are wondering about Mr. Trump flip-flopping on positions?

EPSHTEYN: Well, sounds like you don't have to explain it to conservatives.

The NRA is basing their endorsement on where Mr. Trump stands right now, where Donald Trump stands in 2016, not in 1999 or 2000. And that's what matters the most.

Smart folks evolve on issues. They take in what they see around the country. And that's what Donald Trump has done. And you heard the absolutely excited endorsement of the NRA and the crowd in the room, not just the executives, but the crowd in the room for Donald Trump.

That's what matters the most. So much for the talk of the conservatives not coalescing behind Donald Trump. You have got the NRA now and on Trump moves to the nomination the full-fledged support of the Republican Party and the conservative movement.

BALDWIN: Angela Rye, we heard Mr. Trump say Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Is that true?

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Of course it's not, Brooke.

He repeated that lie three times today and of course has repeated it all throughout this month. It has been disproven by PolitiFact. They called the Trump campaign to respond to the claims that he has made for some time now, and they couldn't get a response.

They have also talked to Hillary Clinton's campaign, and they made it abundantly clear that Hillary Clinton wants to do no such thing. What she has continued to say, as every other well-meaning politician and human being in this country, is ensure that there is a proper balance between human beings, Americans' right to bear arms and what actually happens here, the fact that there are shootings that happen.

I also want to draw your attention, Brooke, to a quote from Donald Trump from, of course, his beloved Twitter account. And that is from 2012 when he said: "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in Newtown, Connecticut."

And, of course, that was in December 2012 after children lost their lives to gun violence. This is not an issue for pandering to NRA gun- toting members. This is about life and death in this country, Brooke, at the hands of gun violence.

Hillary Clinton has touted the importance of background checks. And at one point, Donald Trump in his right mind did the same thing. It is time for him to find himself, his conscience and be honest about the detrimental impacts of gun violence in this country.

EPSHTEYN: Well, first of all, Angela, politicizing Newtown is not the right way to go.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: And what else is not the right way to go is to politicize the Second Amendment and to lie?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: One voice. One voice, guys.

Boris, go.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: This is his Twitter account.

EPSHTEYN: I'm not sure why you speak for well-meaning Americans.

RYE: Because I'm a well-meaning American.

EPSHTEYN: And this is exactly why Donald Trump and the Republicans are going to taking the White House, because people like Angela and the Democrats and liberals think that they are the only well-meaning ones.

RYE: That's never what I said, Boris.

EPSHTEYN: And all these folks who support the Second Amendment are not well-meaning.

RYE: That's not what I said, Boris.

EPSHTEYN: Well, we can go ahead and denigrate...

(CROSSTALK)

[15:20:02]

EPSHTEYN: But that's why you will lose in November.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Yes, OK. Well, I know that this is what your candidate does. Right?

You take parts of sentences and turn them into something that you say authoritatively.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: And you can try to bully me, just like your candidate does too. But here's the reality.

EPSHTEYN: I'm not bullying.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: OK. Well, you weren't saying anything.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Go ahead.

RYE: The point that I'm raising to you is, when you go ahead and you say something authoritatively, and just because you parse my words, doesn't make it fact. Hillary Clinton has never said, Boris...

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Hillary Clinton has never said that she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. Yes or no, is that true or false?

EPSHTEYN: Dismantling the Second Amendment is the same thing as abolishing it.

RYE: OK. So dismantling is different than ensuring that there are proper balances.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: So, you are agreeing that Hillary Clinton wants to dismantle the Second Amendment.

RYE: No, I'm not. No, I'm not. I'm actually calling you out on parsing words.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. Let me jump in.

RYE: Sure, Brooke.

BALDWIN: I do know that Hillary Clinton has said -- I have done a lot on gun violence -- and she has said that she wants to protect responsible gun owners. So, I don't know if that is quite equating it to abolishing, but that does reference the Second Amendment.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: And it up to Hillary Clinton to decide who those are, right, or is it up to the Constitution?

RYE: I'm sorry?

EPSHTEYN: And we have the Second Amendment in place for a reason.

Now, let's take a step back from all this. Angela obviously is very concerned about Donald Trump because he is attracting not just Republicans, but so many independents and so many Democrats to his ranks. RYE: I'm concerned about his lies.

EPSHTEYN: And Hillary Clinton can't put away Bernie Sanders, who is a socialist.

Before you concern yourself with Donald Trump, I would look to secure the nomination, which Hillary Clinton has not done yet.

RYE: So, that's not my -- that's not up to me, Boris. It's actually up to her campaign. And what we're doing right now is talking about what Donald Trump just...

EPSHTEYN: So, who are you supporting, Angela?

RYE: I'm not committed. So, that's not for you to decide.

EPSHTEYN: Well, I am committed.

(CROSSTALK)

RYE: Congratulations. Let me finish my point, Boris.

BALDWIN: Please do.

RYE: What we're doing today is talking about Donald Trump's remarks before the NRA.

I brought something up because it's not politicizing the issue. What I'm telling you is, in his right mind at one point, Donald Trump understood the importance of gun control in this country.

And now, conveniently, before the NRA, before NRA members, he is bragging on how many guns his sons own. He is bragging about the fact that he is a NRA member and that they are NRA members.

And he is lying. He lied three times about Hillary Clinton's position on the Second Amendment.

EPSHTEYN: He's lying about being an NRA member?

RYE: You should listen to my full sentence and let me get to the period.

BALDWIN: All right. OK.

RYE: What I said was he lied about her wanting to abolish the Second Amendment.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: But you are not getting to the point.

RYE: Yes, well, you don't want to address that point because you know it is a lie as well. But that's fine.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. EPSHTEYN: There was no lying.

(CROSSTALK)

EPSHTEYN: Donald Trump is speeding to the nomination.

BALDWIN: OK, OK, OK.

You two, thank you so much. Listen, I hear the passion in both of your voices and the frustration. And, folks, it is a just May, six months to go. Boris Epshteyn and Angela Rye, thank you. Come back.

EPSHTEYN: Thanks, Brooke.

RYE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: It's an extraordinarily important issue. Thank you.

We will take you back in a moment to CNN's special live coverage of the EgyptAir Flight 804. Egypt says their search crews are now recovering human remains, pieces of suitcases, pieces of debris here. Could this have been an act of terrorism? This is what we are hearing from Egypt and the U.S. What more do we know about that? We have that for you.

Also, we have just gotten some news, some breaking news involving the Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Could he soon be arriving on U.S. soil? A major decision just in from the Mexican government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:33]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: All right, we are getting some breaking news out of the nation's capital, specifically right there out of the White House.

Here's what I know. Officers cleared the White House North Lawn because of some ongoing security incident. We can also tell you that the president of the United States is not on property.

That said, let's go to Joe Johns, who is there at the White House.

Joe Johns, what's happening?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have gotten conflicting reports, quite frankly, Brooke.

What we do know is that the Secret Service asked everybody to come inside here a little while ago. And there are reports of a shooting here. I have talked to D.C. police. They have told me that they have a report of a shooting involving the Secret Service that occurred around 17th and E streets, which is very nearby. On the other hand, we have reports that the U.S. Park Police has said

a shooting occurred on West Executive Drive here on the White House complex. That's significant, because West Executive Drive is a secure area. Presumably, only invitees or people who hold badges to get into the White House complex can get into that secure area.

So, conflicting reports, reports of shootings from two different law enforcement agencies here in the Washington area that a shooting has occurred somewhere on or near the White House grounds. And that is about all we know.

It is clear, also, that the Secret Service has locked down a lot of the area around the White House. We have been in contact with the Secret Service and have been told that they will get back to us. So, Secret Service is not confirming anything, reports of a shooting in, around, near the White House, possibly on West Executive Drive, which is concerning because it's a secure area -- Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: OK. Joe Johns, thank you so much.

Phil Mudd, I'm going to put you on the spot here. We are about to talk plane, but I want to bring you in, just former CIA. You know Washington.

If you're -- you just heard what Joe was saying. So, it sounds like -- and let me add, that this is according to police -- officers drew guns, ordered reporters to move inside.

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Yes.

BALDWIN: He was in the Briefing Room. That's where all the reporters are. And officers describe the White House as a condition red.

MUDD: OK. Look, one of the things you need to focus on here, a couple, first, there is going to be an abundance of caution.

I wouldn't read a terrible amount into what they were telling the press to do at the White House. But what Joe said was hugely significant. I served a that White House. West Executive Avenue is an enclosed area next to the West Wing.

BALDWIN: Badges only.

MUDD: If there is -- if there is an event there, that's much more significant than something happening outside.

The city is just a couple of hundred yards, as you know, outside the White House...

BALDWIN: Right.

MUDD: ... and major urban areas, a lot of activity, a lot of shopping.

So, where this incident happened, and the difference between something happening...