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Zoo Investigation; Donald Trump Attacks Press. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired May 31, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:03]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being with me.

We begin with the rather extraordinary day out and about on the campaign trail. The headline should have been that Donald Trump finally accounts for nearly $6 million he raised for dozens of veterans groups. Done, the who, the what, the how all answered.

But, instead, the headline has become Donald Trump unleashing on the media, in perhaps the most heated news conference he has had since launching his campaign now about year ago. For months and months, journalists, including some of here at CNN, didn't question the motivation behind Trump's fund-raiser a number of months ago, the one he held instead of attending that primary debate.

We asked simple questions about the money trail. But instead of simply explaining those details today, focusing on that, Mr. Trump turned the announcement into a storm of insults, name-calling and questioning the role of a free press.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the only one in the world could raise almost $6 million for the veterans, have uniform applause by the veterans groups, and end up being criticized by the press.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: To follow up on that, you keep calling us the dishonest press, the disgusting press.

TRUMP: Well, generally speaking, that's 100 percent true.

Go ahead.

ACOSTA: I disagree with that, sir.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: know You now what? When I have raised money...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me. I have watched you on television. You're a real beauty.

I'm totally accountable. Now, actually, though, what I got was worse than credit, because they were questioning me.

QUESTION: But what you're doing is you're answering the questions now that we had back then. It was just a question.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Here is the story.

QUESTION: Is the question an attack?

TRUMP: I think -- and I have been dealing with the press a long time. I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I have ever met. I have to tell you that.

I wanted to make this out of the goodness of my heart. I didn't want to do this where the press is all involved.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And, all of a sudden, everybody is going, where did it go, who did it go to? Then we said who it went to. Then we said, how much was it?

I'm not looking for credit. But what I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC -- he's a sleaze in my book -- you're a sleaze, because you know the facts and you know the facts well.

Go ahead.

QUESTION: Is this what it's going to be like covering you if you're president?

TRUMP: OK, yes, it is going to be like this, David.

If the press writes false stories, I'm going to continue to attack the press.

Look, I find the press to be extremely dishonest. I may be right. I may be wrong. But that's who I am. And you think I'm going to change, I'm not changing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. We're going to have a huge discussion on just what you just watched, but first joining me now the man who started asking all the important questions about the VA, exposing the deadly wait times, our senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin.

So, first, just on you listened to all of that. What do we know about the money trail and all these different veterans organizations he says he donated money to?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: We're following the money trail.

We're asking these veterans groups if they got the money. They are generally saying yes. We're also doing something that I don't think Donald Trump did completely, which is vet these programs the way we vet them, looking at their federal financial records.

We found a couple of them that are not very good. We found some that are very, very good. But there are some that I think he could have done a better job vetting on. We will be looking into this.

But the bottom line is, he did raise the money and he has now given that money to these charitable causes. Whether they're good or bad charitable causes, we will see, but he did it. And he should get credit for that. Quite frankly, this should have been cleaned up a long time ago.

He's been talking about this forever. It is easy, easy. You get the money in, you send the money out.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And months ago, it would have been said, wow, that's still...

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: It should have been handled in a little press release.

BALDWIN: Following up too with you, we were talking about Trump University a bit ago. And now we know that the document dump has happened. This federal judge in California wanted the public to see what? What will we see?

GRIFFIN: This was a lawsuit by "The Washington Post" to open up the sales playbook for Trump University. This was the book that the instructors, if you will, were to sell people into a three-day, a five-day and a gold elite program to teach the secrets of success that Donald Trump uses to make a fortune in real estate.

Now, three different lawsuits allege that there were no secrets, that there was no success here, that this whole thing was a fraud. There were no hand-picked experts. What we have released today, and we have just gotten ahold of it, is the actual playbook, scripts included, where these instructors would get people into a hotel room for a 90- minute free seminar and then try to sell them.

Listen, you need to buy the $14.95 three-day seminar. You need to buy the $19,000 or whatever it was five-day seminar or you need to really -- if you really want to make money, you need buy the $35,000 gold elite program. They targeted specific people. They wanted people that made $90,000, a couple of hundred thousands net worth.

[15:05:00]

They wanted to make sure you had credit on your credit card, because they wanted to swipe your credit card right there. And it's -- it is what it is. It's a playbook. It's a step-by-step playbook.

BALDWIN: What you mean scripts? Scripts that these instructors would...

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: Scripts. Hi, my name is Joe Smith. And I'm here with Trump University, and today I'm going to teach you how to be a huge success in real estate.

(CROSSTALK)

GRIFFIN: And we have heard many, many stories where people would go into these seminars, and the first thing the instructor would say is, I want to right now write a check to yourself for $1 million and put it in your pocket, because you're going to be able to cash that at the end of this seminar, at the end of this program, whatever.

It was -- it was upselling. There's no doubt about it. And many of these people were not real estate experts. They were motivational speakers. And from Trump's own deposition, none of them were hand- picked by him, which is all in conflict with what he said in his sales pitch, which you can see is still online.

BALDWIN: Drew, I'm sure we will be poring through the scripts and the information. We will look for your reporting on that document dump through the afternoon.

GRIFFIN: Right.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much for the preview of that.

Meantime, as I mentioned, we have a panel here standing by to talk about what we witnessed today at Trump Tower.

I have David Zurawik, "Baltimore Sun" media critic, Kayleigh McEnany, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, and Erik Wemple is with us, media critic for "The Washington Post."

So, welcome, welcome to all of you.

And, Erik, it just want to turn to you first, we had David Fahrenthold on the show last hour, who, you know, has asked all the germane questions as it pertains with your paper about this veterans fund- raiser story with regard to Mr. Trump, and then we will get to the media bashing in a second.

But, you know, in watching this news conference today, Erik, did he answer the questions that have been raised, in your opinion?

ERIK WEMPLE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": No.

He was asked point blank, you know, why did it take so long, who was behind this money, what about you? And he went into a rant on the media, which is -- which is his playbook. So, we expect that. That's what happens. He did not answer the question.

He used the list of contributions as a means of filibustering the matter. And every time he was asked an aggressive question, he made an aggressive insult, which, again, de rigueur for Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: David, also your perspective, you know, to Erik's point on the filibuster, I have talked to folks who said why didn't he focus more -- the headline would have been for the $5.6 million, which is huge, you know, money for these veterans groups. We have been asking members of the media, free press, you know, asking all the right questions as far as the money trail and the vetting, et cetera, but instead what did you make of that scene today?

DAVID ZURAWIK, TV CRITIC, "THE BALTIMORE SUN": Well you know, a couple of things about it. One, Donald Trump doesn't like having people like Drew starting to squeeze him, which is a good thing. This is the vetting process of a presidential candidate.

I think we saw that he's starting to feel what it's like to get some real press scrutiny. That kind of stuff he's getting from "The Washington Post" and from CNN with Drew, that stuff is getting to him. And I think, if there's a silver lining in this -- and I tried to find something happy about a guy who might be president calling the press sleaze and scum -- that's the best thing I can come up with about it.

But I would have to agree with Erik also about this is his playbook, and I will tell you what. I have to -- you know, as much as I would like to say, oh, he's gone too far this time, like 10,000 people have said 10,000 times, I don't think so.

And I think in terms of television, when he had the veterans, Al Baldasaro, come up and speak and say the press has no compassion for the vets, get your heads out of your butts, I think, is the quote, and start watching and seeing how vets are suffering, I think that's very effective, because what Trump is saying to supporters are, the elites in Washington, the politicians don't care about you. The press doesn't care about you. I do care about you. I might err on the side of passion. I say stuff that's bad, but that's because I care and they don't and I'm your guy.

And I think what happened today plays into that campaign narrative of his.

BALDWIN: I think he -- the support could be even more massive after what happened today.

But, Kayleigh, my question to you is this. Listen, as a member of the media, I'm -- I have thick skin. We ask the tough questions because it's our role as journalists and this is somebody who wants to be the leader of the free world. These are questions that should be asked of him.

I think what surprised me and another strategist I was talking to before is the anger today. So, so my question, just as an American citizen, if Mr. Trump is president, how would he handle criticism, not just from, you know, the White House press corps, but from world leaders, critics around the world?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, I mean, I think it's not criticism he has a problem with. It's unfair criticism.

[15:10:00]

And you are absolutely right this is a fair line of questioning. He has to answer these questions. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So, what was unfair?

WEMPLE: No, no, no.

MCENANY: Well, here's the thing.

WEMPLE: No.

MCENANY: The media said, we want a full accounting of where every dollar ha gone, to every organization. He listed the 41 organizations with a dollar-for-dollar account.

This is what Mr. Trump gets. He scrutiny after that. He gets more criticism. Meanwhile...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: ... pointed it out over the course of months, so the questions became how much, where to?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: There was a lack of transparency.

MCENANY: Brooke, my question is, where's the scrutiny been on the Clinton Foundation? Where is the dollar-for-dollar accounting demand?

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: Wait. Let me finish. I let you finish. I was very patient.

Where -- "The Wall Street Journal" has said there are two dozen encounters where Bill Clinton received millions and millions on State Department matters, companies involved in State Department matters.

There have been direct quid pro quo exchanges between companies that were involved with State Department negotiations. There's been no scrutiny. None. I have not seen "The Washington Post" or "The New York Times" give this level of scrutiny to the Clinton Foundation.

WEMPLE: Do you read "The New York Times"?

MCENANY: Yes, I do. And I'm aware that they have given a bit of scrutiny to that. (CROSSTALK)

WEMPLE: Bit of scrutiny? They gave months and months...

(CROSSTALK)

WEMPLE: ... investigative resources to this matter, under the bylines of Joe Becker and Mike Mcintire, two of the most -- two of the best investigative reporters in the country.

And they found that there were certain overlaps between donations to the Clinton Foundation and a Russian deal for a Russian nuclear deal -- or Russian mining deal, I should say. That was an extensive investigation.

And you cite "The Wall Street Journal." That's a part of the media. So, the media has been scrutinizing this.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let him finish.

WEMPLE: It's insane for you to raise that excuse as a distraction.

The notion that somehow there's not equal investigation of the Clintons, there has been. This -- you know, Washington reporters have spent years. They have grade -- investigating the Clintons. The point is, you guys can't handle this scrutiny. The Trump...

WEMPLE: Yes.

WEMPLE: The Trump aura is to love attention, but to hate scrutiny. And that's -- they love scrutiny, but when attention becomes scrutiny, then they start whining.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: David is nodding.

How would you respond, Kayleigh, that the Trump -- Mr. Trump can't handle being under the microscope like this?

MCENANY: It is not that at all, because if you go on Media Research Center, you will find a minute-by-minute accounting of the media's time, the television press and a story-by-story accounting of how much attention has been devoted to Clinton vs. Trump.

The scrutiny absolutely has been on Trump, with the few exceptions you mentioned that have been relegated to Hillary Clinton. And "The Washington Post" has been reported to have 20 investigative reporters on Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: Excuse me. I let you finish. You have to let me finish.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: You have to let me finish.

WEMPLE: Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye since...

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: You can't just talk over me because you don't want my points to be heard. I let you finish.

(CROSSTALK)

WEMPLE: It's an insane comparison, Brooke. This is an insane comparison. This should in no way be...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

What about, what about the perspective just that we hear -- and, listen, this is not Donald Trump is not the only politician to speak ill of the press, but the fact that -- David, let me just go to you. Mr. Trump uses the press. You know, we take his rallies live. He calls into shows. He calls into control rooms.

The night he held that fund-raiser for, you know, the veterans, he chose to do that and stood center stage, instead of attending that debate. He made it an event.

ZURAWIK: He really did.

And, you know, look, television -- and I don't want to make this television, print, one's better than the other, but television really has played ball with him. And I will tell you what, Kayleigh, that I think the bad news is for Trump and his supporters, is people in the press, people like me are saying you guys absolutely sucked, get to work.

And television is starting to do that. And I got new for you. It is going to get much worse. And God bless every reporter that comes after Trump.

And, by the way, God bless the reporters that go after Hillary Clinton, too. Look...

BALDWIN: Yes, yes, both.

ZURAWIK: ... there are problems in the press. Somebody like George Stephanopoulos on ABC gives $75,000 to the Clintons, that's hypocrisy to the audience. And Trump can play that.

But that's not the dominant motif of the press. Most of the press are just trying to get citizens facts about these two candidates, and they're not playing favorites. They want to do their job. We saw it today. It's been going on for a couple of weeks now, maybe a month or so, where they're really coming after Trump. And it's only going to get worse, and he has got to get his act together. He can keep going off like this, but it's not going to work. Somebody is going to bust him with a big story.

MCENANY: One thing I want to say...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Quickly, quickly, Kayleigh.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENANY: Quickly, yes, you know, my fellow panelist complains about Trump filibustering, but every time I try to make a point, he filibusters me, which I find interesting.

The point I was trying to make is "The Washington Post" has 20 investigative reporters on Donald Trump. When asked how many they have devoted to Hillary Clinton, they didn't have an answer. And, in fact, they said quality matters more than quantity.

[15:15:01]

This is the problem people have with the press. It's the reason last year Gallup said...

WEMPLE: May I respond?

MCENANY: ... the press is least trusted than any time in political history.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. Erik, respond. Then we got to go.

WEMPLE: Well, I would simply respond that Donald Trump has been a presidential candidate for not even a year. And so Hillary Clinton has been in the public eye since the early '90s, the national public eye since the early '90s.

If you want to compare the amount of investigative journalism that has been on Hillary Clinton over that period vs. what has been done on Donald Trump thus far, it is not even close.

BALDWIN: OK. David Zurawik, Kayleigh McEnany, Erik Wemple, thank you. Come back. Thank you so much.

MCENANY: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Just ahead, one of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" contestants joins me live on why she may support Hillary Clinton.

Plus, a Palestinians historian says Trump is an American antihero, a la Tony Soprano or Walter White -- why Americans, many Americans, love that antihero.

And breaking news involving the death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo, prosecutors now revealing an investigation is under way. We will tell you why ahead. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:00]

BALDWIN: One week from today, the Democratic Party could have its presidential nominee. Hillary Clinton is expected to lock up that magic number of delegates after primaries both in New Jersey and then ultimately in California.

But with Bernie Sanders still fighting for every single vote, there is a growing talk of a possible ticket with Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": Would you take the call if Hillary Clinton asked you to be her running mate?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, right now, again, what I'm -- here we are in California. I'm knocking my brains out to win the Democratic nomination.

TODD: Yes, you are.

SANDERS: That's where -- that's where I am right now. What happens afterwards, we will see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's begin there with Bill Press, CNN political commentator.

Bill Press, a Bernie Sanders supporter, nice to see you.

What do you think? Do you think, I mean, if the call were made, he would say yes? Should she ask him if he really fights that good fight through Philadelphia?

BILL PRESS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think this is delicious speculation, but I don't think it is going to happen.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Yes.

PRESS: If she makes the call, would he take the call? Yes. Would he say yes? I don't think so, look, for a couple of reasons.

One, I think -- I don't think she will make the call. And I don't think he will accept. I don't think she will make the call. I think she really wants somebody maybe she has better chemistry with, she feels more comfortable with.

And Bernie, I believe, has a different agenda in mind. I mean, he's serious about a political revolution. He really feels the Democratic Party has lost its way, no longer fight for the working-class Americans. He wants to totally reshape the Democratic Party. You can't do that as vice president of the United States.

Brooke, here's my scenario. You ready for this, OK?

BALDWIN: OK. Throw it on me.

PRESS: Bernie send -- Bernie gives her two or three names. These are the people that I think would be great. She picks one of them, a real, strong progressive. And Elizabeth Warren...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I was about to say that name.

PRESS: Or Tom Perez maybe, secretary of labor, somebody who's a real progressive, to prove that she really is true -- she believes this progressive agenda now.

And that's a person that will help bring the Bernie Sanders supporters along. So, I think she will have a strong progressive, not Bernie Sanders, on the ticket.

BALDWIN: Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren, can America handle two women, Bill Press?

PRESS: Absolutely. And, by the way, the country will be better run and in better shape.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Bless you.

PRESS: We men have screwed it up long enough, right?

BALDWIN: Oh, Bill. Let me -- let's move on to...

PRESS: OK.

BALDWIN: ... a fun piece of archival footage we have pulled out.

PRESS: Oh.

BALDWIN: We know the news. This is, California Governor Jerry Brown has endorsed Hillary Clinton. But let's take a trip down memory lane. The year was 1992, Jerry Brown duking it out with Bill Clinton for the Democratic nomination for presidency.

PRESS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 1992)

BILL CLINTON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife. You are not worth being on the same platform as my wife.

JERRY BROWN, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will tell you something, Mr. Clinton. Don't try to escape it. Ralph Nader called me this afternoon. He read me the article from "The Washington Post."

CLINTON: I have not.

Does that make it true?

BROWN: I was shocked by it. I was shocked by it, because I don't think someone in government...

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Governor Clinton, you were poking your finger at him. He poked it back.

CLINTON: Well...

QUESTION: It's you're turn, Governor Clinton. Go ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

CLINTON: Jerry comes here with his family wealth and his $1,500 suit and makes a lying accusation about my wife. I never...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: It's in "The Washington Post."

CLINTON: That doesn't make it true.

BROWN: Are you saying they lied?

CLINTON: I'm saying that I never funneled any money to my wife's law firm. Never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You remember that?

PRESS: Do I ever?

I mean, that makes Marco Rubio and Donald Trump look like best friends, right, that little exchange.

(LAUGHTER)

PRESS: You know, I have to say, so, of course, we're doing this in the context of Governor Brown endorsing Hillary Clinton today.

BALDWIN: Yes.

PRESS: I don't know whether you know I worked for Jerry for four years in Sacramento. I'm a good friend of his. I was surprised. As a Sanders supporter, I was disappointed. And I remember Jerry when Jerry was the outsider. He ran against Jimmy Carter in '76. He ran against President Jimmy Carter in '80. He ran against Bill Clinton in '92.

He was the outsider. Now he is part of the establishment. And we know the establishment is with Hillary Clinton. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

BALDWIN: Hmm, Bill Press, we will talk again. I liked your delicious speculation.

PRESS: I hope.

BALDWIN: That was fascinating, on one side of the ticket. Thank you so much. Thank you, Bill Press.

PRESS: All right, Brooke, thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up here, we do have some breaking news. We now it is a police investigation, the shooting death of a gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo to save that 3-year-old little boy, this as the debate grows over who, if anyone, is to blame. What is the parents' role in all of this? We will talk with two moms, get their perspective, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:29:01]

BALDWIN: Besides railing against the media today, Donald Trump ripped apart the federal judge presiding over this lawsuit against Trump University, internal documents in the case released moments ago said to reveal detailed scripts for enrolling prospective students.

These scripts were for those instructors. Some students who spent thousands of dollars hoping to make millions, they're claiming that Trump's classes defrauded them. He is what Donald Trump said about that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I have a judge who is very, very unfair.

QUESTION: Why?

TRUMP: Well, you'll see it in court documents. But I have a judge who is very, very unfair. He knows he's unfair. And I will win the Trump University case. I could settle that case. I could have settled it. I just choose not to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And, as he's been on a stump recently, Mr. Trump has gone farther, saying that the judge hates him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: But I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He's a hater.

His name is Gonzalo Curiel.

The judge, who happens to be, we believe Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine. You know what? I think the Mexicans are going to end up loving Donald Trump when I give all these jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She..

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: She is giggling through it all.