Return to Transcripts main page

Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Trump Aide Talks; Trump Muslim County Hotel. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired May 26, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

Donald trump set to speak very soon. The presumptive GOP nominee is in North Dakota today following his very contentious West Coast swing.

In the meantime, some brand new revelations from Donald Trump's top aid, that man, Paul Manafort, on the left. He's hinting at just who Donald Trump might or might not pick as his vice president. And you might be surprised because Paul Manafort says Trump probably will not choose a woman, or will not choose a member of a minority group. The reason being, Manafort says he believes that would be viewed as pandering.

Manafort also shedding light on one of the controversial issues during this election cycle, and that is Donald Trump's ban on Muslims. Here is what he had to say on that subject. Quote, "he's already started moderating on that. He operates by starting the conversation at the outer edges and then brings it back towards the middle within his comfort zone. He'll soften it more."

Meantime, President Obama weighing in on Donald Trump. He says his fellow leaders from all over the world are very concerned about Trump's stances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're rattled by it. And for good reason. He does a lot of the proposals that he's made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude or an interest in getting tweets and headlines instead of actually thinking through what it is that is required to keep America safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining us now, CNN political commentator Errol Louis. And also with us CNN political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon. And CNN national politics reporter MJ Lee.

All right, to the three of you, you just heard some really strong language about the vice presidential pick. This is big, John Avlon. When you start talking about your presidential pick forever and ever amen, it has been, we need somebody who can get us a certain state, we need somebody who can get us a certain demographic. Apparently not so much. JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Apparently not so much. This is -

this is really doubling down on the all-white men strategy, which the math doesn't really work very well. But it's astounding to hear basic virtues like inclusive, modernizing the Republican Party, trying to address perceived negatives and being like, not so much, we're just going to really - inclusivity is actually pandering in Donald Trump's America, apparently.

BANFIELD: And yet, Errol Louis, it works for him. You know what, John Avlon just said, the numbers don't really work, but somehow they magically work.

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know. Here's a number that didn't work, right? Paul Ryan was supposed to bring the millennials, the younger demographic to the Republican Party. Perhaps he was also supposed to bring his home state, Wisconsin, along. He lost his home state by seven points. He lost the young people. So, you know, it's not enough to just sort of check a box. That person's got to actually be able to have a proven ability to sort of bring it along. That's not pandering, that's just politics.

BANFIELD: We also look at behaviors as so critical. Any missteps, you know, up until now have always been, could be the demise of your campaign. If you're seen on the back of the vote money business, you're done. If you say something -

AVLON: (INAUDIBLE) a Gary Heart (ph) reference (INAUDIBLE).

BANFIELD: No, it's one that has stuck with me for a long time.

But I want you all to look at this sound bite from last night. And it's fun. It's Jimmy Kimmel. I get it. All joking aside, the topic is about effectively lying. And I want you to see what Jimmy Kimmel and Donald Trump reached as an answer to this whole posing as your own publicist question. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Over the years I've used alias. And when I'm in real estate and especially when I was out in Brooklyn with my father and I'd want to buy something and, honestly, nobody knew who Trump was at that time.

JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Right.

TRUMP: Nobody knew me. So it wasn't so much so important. But I would never want to use my name because you had to pay more money for the land. If you're trying to buy land, you use different names and you have -

KIMMEL: What names have you used?

TRUMP: I would use - I actually used the name Barron.

KIMMEL: Barron, right. TRUMP: And I ended up using my son because I made a very good deal using that name. I used an alias in terms of setting up a meeting with Mr. Donald Trump. And it was - and many people in the real estate business do that. You use alias.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: OK. So it all sounds really innocuous until you get right down to brass tacks here. And MJ Lee, it's lying. I can't misrepresent myself to get a better story, but it is damn good for business if I do. I will get that story, but it's not ethical. And we all play by rules. We're not supposed to do that. We can't do that. And I'm just a lonely reporter. Don't we have higher standards for president? And I guess the question for you is, will his supporters see it that way?

[12:05:03] MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Well, look, Donald Trump has proven that there is nobody better at marketing Donald Trump than Donald Trump. And I think this episode from many years ago really shows that he's willing to really do anything to make sure that his brand is represented in the way that he wants it to be represented. And this is clearly something that he has done throughout this campaign, as well.

The question of whether his supporters care about this or not, look, so far I think the answer that we've gotten is that they don't care when there are some missteps or when there are discrepancies in the things that he has said. Even on policy issues and even as we seen him walk back and moderate some of the things that he has said during the primary campaign, I think his core group of supporters, that doesn't really bother him.

The question, however, is heading into the general election, will the strategy work in bringing into the fold a demographic groups that he has not been able to perform strongly with during the primary.

BANFIELD: And maybe those very things, though, those persnickety things, maybe the voters, maybe his supporters see that as a small thing, but people like Paul Ryan, it seems, see it as a very big thing. This is an old school guy who does play by the rules and he so far has not endorsed Donald Trump. He had a phone call with him last night. We're hearing that it was a good phone call. But this is what Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, had to say just a few moments ago about the bigger picture, the party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: What I'm most concerned about is making sure that we actually have real party unity. Not pretend party unity. Real party unity because we need to win this election in the fall. There's just too much at stake. The Supreme Court, on and on and on I could go. The point is, I want real party unity, and that's what I'm most concerned about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, John Avalon, I'm going to bring that topic back up. AVLON: Sure.

BANFIELD: These are the things that many of his fellow Republicans recoil at. These are maybe what is holding him back from that full- throated endorsement. I don't know if that's Paul Ryan's issue or not. But we also have Paul Manafort, chief aide to Donald Trump, saying pretty much definitively it's very unlikely he's going to releases those taxes before the election. It's too complicated. Americans - they'll be complicated.

AVLON: Right.

BANFIELD: They'll be confused by it. Which, to some Americans, is very offensive. But maybe to his supporters might not be. But to the Paul Ryan, it is.

AVLON: Well, I think you've got to separate out these issues a little bit, right? Donald Trump has been enormously effective and his supporters are not going to be upset about anything he does or says. That is already very well determined. But we have moved officially from the Republican primary electorate and playing to the base of conservative populism, to winning a general election. It's a totally different cohort. And there are going to be folks in the sensible center who are insulted by the condescension where the celebrity demagogue act, which says the American people are too dumb to care about consistency or disclosures, that will offend some folks appropriately. And for Paul Ryan, who's an (INAUDIBLE) to Jack Kemp, who really has tried to embrace a big tent vision of the Republican Party, Donald Trump is the opposite of that vision. They are on opposite ends of the party. So if he's talking about real unity, not (INAUDIBLE) unit, that's actually a big deal.

BANFIELD: I want to show you - when we're - since we're talking about unity, I want to show you the democratic story of unity that's getting headlines today, and that is - is the president. The president is on an overseas trip. He's in Japan right now. And he's being asked questions about what's going on - you know, at his home - in his homeland. And he has actually addressed the issue of Democratic unity between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton. And here's what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a certain buildup of aggravation. We saw that in my lengthy primary in 2008. This is no different. Once the primary process is resolved, the ability for us to pull together around a common vision, that is in sharp contrast to the vision that's being offered on the other side, I think is one that will get done by time of the convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And I think a lot of people in that party hope that's the case, obviously, Errol. But when you see we're nowhere close to that (INAUDIBLE) in California as we march towards June. The recent poll that came up in the Public Policy Institute of California has these two neck and neck. They're within the margin. It's a squeaker. Use any other kind of description you want. But effectively they're 46 to 44. Hillary Rodham Clinton just eking past, but again within the margin of error, Bernie Sander. Look, both of them completely trumped Trump in that state. That - the polls show that they blow him by 10 and 17 points. Sanders is the 17 point spread, I might add. When does the unity part come?

LOUIS: Well, I think, look, we - we've all known that - and Bernie Sanders has made clear, he's going to play this out all the way up to what he said could be a very messy convention. So the notion that he was somehow going to drop out win or lose after California, I think that ship sailed a long time ago.

[12:10:02] I also think it's pretty clear that, you know, aside from completely changing the delegate rules, which I don't think anybody believes is going to happen, unless Bernie Sanders wins California by - with a, you know, 70 percent of the vote. And I don't know if any poll is going anywhere near that.

BANFIELD: That looks tricky. That looks really tricky.

LOUIS: Yes. He's got about 30 points to go, right?

BANFIELD: Yes.

LOUIS: But short of that, and that would be nearly miraculous, but he does call for political revolution, which is sort of a secular miracle. Short of that happening, I think it's over in Clinton's favor. Then then, you know, any discussion about unity has a different feel and tone to it once that has been established. So probably a little early, you know, and that's - that's -

BANFIELD: Can you describe that whole Etch-a-Sketch thing to the Democrats this time around as well.

Errol Louis, MJ Lee, John Avlon, as always, I love having you on. Thank you.

AVLON: Thanks.

BANFIELD: And thank you for recognizing that monkey business thing. You are the human Wikipedia, though, on this stuff.

Coming up, Donald Trump expected to speak live to the press, that's coming up in about 50 - 49 minutes or so. He's certainly expected to do this right before his 2:00 p.m. rally. So we're watching the clock and the live mikes.

At 1:00 p.m. Hillary Clinton also expected to be speaking live to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union in Las Vegas. That one's a biggie. Let me tell you. That's a big one. We're going to be watching both of those events and you will be, too, because we're going to bring them to you live.

In the meantime, coming up, Donald Trump has made his views about Muslims pretty darn clear, banned, for now, until we figure it all out. But how does he justify making huge investments in the most populist Muslim country in the world. He's building a beautiful, fancy hotel in Indonesia. But will he also build a mosque? We've got that answer coming up.

And you can watch LEGAL VIEW anytime at cnn.com/go. You can also find me on FaceBook or you can tweet me on the Twitter, cnnashleigh. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:41] BANFIELD: A reminder for you that Donald Trump is scheduled to speak in a little more than an hour, about 1:30 or so actually Eastern Time. Of course, we're going to take it live, give or take a few minutes. The clock can always move on these live events, but we've got it covered for you.

In the meantime, Donald Trump is reportedly about to do the thing that made him rich and famous long before politics. A big money real estate deal. Probably not surprising. But this is what might be surprising. It's a little unusual. The country where people don't think very highly of the name Trump these days. CNN's Ivan Watson has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to what Donald Trump's company says will one day become the next generation of luxury hospitality. This is the Lido Lakes (ph) Hotel, a resort that feels long past its prime.

WATSON (on camera): This hotel feels a little scruffy and forlorn, and yet Donald Trump and his Trump Hotels company have announced that they're going to help turn this place into a new ultra luxury six-star resort. And here's the thing, we're currently in Indonesia. It's the world's most populous Muslim country.

WATSON (voice-over): This Southeast Asian country is home to more than 200 million Muslims. Many of the Indonesians we talked to say they're offended by the things Donald Trump says about their faith and his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Islam hates us. There's something - there's something there that - that's a tremendous hatred there. And we have to be very vigilant. We have to be very careful. And we can't allow people coming into this country who have this hatred.

WATSON (on camera): Has Donald Trump's rhetoric been worrying your community?

YAHYA STAQUF, INDONESIAN RELIGIOUS GROUP OFFICIAL: Not worrying, but, you know, provoking, you know, provoking. It's like that he wants Muslim to hate him.

WATSON (voice-over): Yahya Staquf is a top official in an Indonesian religious group that claims to be the world's largest Muslim organization. This month they organized an international conference of moderate Muslim leaders to denounce violent Islamic extremist. But the cleric warns that a ban on Muslims by a possible future president Trump would be disastrous.

STAQUF: That would be, well, potentially dangerous because it will ignite misunderstandings through the Muslim world.

WATSON: Trump has since softened his stance on the ban.

TRUMP (voice-over): We have a serious problem. It's a temporary ban. And it hasn't been called for yet. Nobody's done it. This is just a suggestion, until we find out what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think that America can survive (INAUDIBLE).

WATSON: Either way, Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. has raised questions at the highest levels of the Indonesian government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will come here, not allow the Muslim people come and (INAUDIBLE) American while he has money in Indonesia? Investment in Indonesia.

WATSON: Trump Hotel says it's developing two luxury resorts in Indonesia.

WATSON (on camera): Trump's company does not specify whether the new resort will include a mosque, such as this one which currently stands at the Lido Lakes Hotel.

WATSON (voice-over): Despite some politicians calling for a Trump boycott, the Indonesian government says it won't cancel his hotel deals here. Donald Trump may not trust Muslims, but that hasn't stopped him from trying to make money in this majority Muslim country.

Ivan Watson, CNN, Chigombong (ph), Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: That was the reaction in Indonesia. Coming up, President Obama is also hearing reaction to Donald Trump from world leaders at the G-7 Summit. And he says they are, quote, "rattled." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:24:11] BANFIELD: President Obama says his fellow leaders from all over the world are very concerned about the things coming out of Donald Trump's mouth these days. The word that Obama uses is actually "rattled." And he's hearing it face-to-face from the leaders of Germany, Britain, Japan and the other G-7 countries. He says Donald Trump's comments show, quote, "ignorance of how the world works" and that what - what he tweets and what headlines, you know, make are something that maybe should instead be thought out positions.

Also, a few new strategy points today from Donald Trump's chief strategist, Paul Manafort, who told an interviewer that Trump probably won't ever release his tax returns, as a lot of people are demanding that he do. And the reason? Too complicated. The American people won't understand them, Paul Manafort says. Trump's adviser also clarifying his position on a possible running mate, saying it probably won't be a woman or a minority because that would just be pandering.

[12:25:12] Jeffrey Lord, an enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump for president, also with loads and loads of experience as a White House presidential adviser during the Reagan administration. So you know a thing or two, not only about running a country, but also how to get the job.

So, Jeffrey, thanks so much. So much to talk to you about. But the thing that -

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER ADVISER TO PRESIDENT REAGAN: Yes. Good afternoon, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Great to have you, as always.

The thing that the president said overseas about other world leaders being rattled by what they hear from Donald Trump, and the mayor of London, the first Muslim elected mayor of a major city, saying that Trump - and he used the word "ignorant" about the Muslim faith. And then Paul Manafort saying that actually things are going to ease, that he's starting to moderate on that. that he'll still end up outside the norm, but in line with the American people and what they're thinking, but that he'll soften it some more. I'm not sure I know what's going on. Is Donald Trump trying to appease people overseas when Manafort says he'll moderate it? And doesn't he risk losing this extraordinary group of enthusiastic supporters who turn out in droves for him arena to arena.

LORD: One of the things that amazes me, Ashleigh, as we've gone along here, is how Donald Trump will say something in the plainest of English and then this just gets misrepeated and, you know, repeated wrongly ever after. Right from the get go in terms of his views on Muslims, he said he wanted a temporary halt before bringing Muslims into the country until we could figure out, I believe his original phrase was, until we can figure out what the hell is going on. Meaning, this was said in the wake of San Bernardino. And as we eventually learned, of course, the woman half of that team came in from another country on a - on a - what was it K-1 fiance visa. The immigration system,, they never checked her social media. They had no idea that she was planning on jihad when she got here. That's a system that doesn't work. People wound up being murdered because of this. So it just seemed imminent common sense and he made it quite clear that once the problems were fixed, whatever they were, it would start - the system would start up all over again. So I really do think he was misrepresented with this. It's not a question of moderating. He's had the same position from the get go.

BANFIELD: OK, fair answer, although I would take issue with so many people mishearing it as opposed to, you know, a few mishearing it. But I want to move on to what he said last night on Jimmy Kimmel. Just in the bloc before you, he mentioned how he had been using aliases. And I took issue with that because I can't do that in my job to make more money -

LORD: Right.

BANFIELD: Which was his quote. I did it just to make more money as though the end justifies the means. But he also had to answer the question that Jimmy Kimmel asked him, which was, you said, you know, in 2008 that Hillary Clinton would make a great president. And he asked him about that. Let me play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST": 2008, I want to get this right.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.

KIMMEL: You said you thought Hillary would make an excellent president. And as recently as 2012 you said you thought she was terrific. What did she do? What happened?

TRUMP: Well, let me just explain to you.

KIMMEL: Yes.

TRUMP: I will - I will tell you. When I am a businessman - I had a beautiful story recently where they said Trump is a world class businessman. All over the world we're doing jobs. I speak well of everybody. If people ask me about politicians, I speak well. So when they asked me about Hillary, she's wonderful. The hus - everybody's wonderful. And that's the way it is. And - including contributions. They ask me for contributions. I give contributions.

KIMMEL: So you were full of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) when you said it?

TRUMP: A little bit. A little bit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So he's basically answered, yes, he was full of, you know, the profanity when he answered that question. And I guess it's all fun and games when you're on Jimmy Kimmel and it's all comedy and everyone's laughing, but I keep coming back to the issue that everybody else in this country, when we're in our jobs, we're not allowed to lie, even just a little, to make the job better, to make a little more money or to circumvent a road block that might, you know, stop us from having the success that we want. And we would expect even more from a president. I don't understand how this can be defended.

LORD: Ashleigh, you and I disagree on this. And I think - I was saying this to you once before, but let me - let me repeat this. Having worked in Washington extensively, I know that - and you certainly know that public figures from presidents, senators, congressmen, et cetera, give interviews to reporters on the condition that they are reporting anonymously, when, in fact, the reporter never - knows exactly who he's talking to and never tells the American public who they are. That is a form of lying to the public. That is a game that Washington insiders play all of the time.

BANFIELD: OK, I'll give you that. You gave that to me on another show and I - I understand what you're saying.

LORD: I - I just -

BANFIELD: But what about this other part, that Hillary Clinton would make an excellent president?

LORD: I just - I just don't see this as any different - I don't see it as any different. And to be perfectly candid, I think there's a lot of hypocrisy here. People taking offense at something that's done all the time in Washington.

[12:30:05] BANFIELD: But just because every - my mom always told me, just because your friends are doing something, jump off a bridge, would you do it too, you know? I mean you can't. You've still got to follow the rules.

LORD: Yes, my mom said the same thing but I - what I'm - what I'm saying -

BANFIELD: It's (INAUDIBLE) - Jeffrey you and I --