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Trump Slams Judge; Gorilla Death Controversy; Trump Blasts Press; Brazil Unprepared For Summer Olympics. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired May 31, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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

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[15:30:00] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- 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 --

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: She's giggling through it all, Nely Galan. She's the author of "Self Made", media executive here who is the first Latina to compete in "Celebrity Apprentice". She was once the president of Telemundo. Nely, it is an honor to meet you.

NELY GALAN, AUTHOR, SELF MADE: Oh, so lovely to be here with you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We just played the clip, he mentions this judge, he mentions that he's Mexican, you were sort of laughing. Why do you think he brought that up?

GALAN: Well, I think the undertone is kind of fear mongering, that somehow Latinos or Mexicans, like there's always some negative connotation. But in fact, that's why I wrote this book "Self Made" because in America, women are the fastest growing entrepreneurs, and diverse women, Latinas, African-Americans, Asians, are the fastest growing entrepreneurs, and the growth engine in this country. So to me, I look at, here are these women and these people that all advertisers want, that every corporation needs. You've got to be careful what you say about them. They are really the machine.

BALDWIN: We've heard Mr. Trump say, I employ amazing women in my corporations and my companies, we talked about his daughter, but then I really want to talk about you, because -- so you're on "Celebrity Apprentice". Let's play the moment. Here's a clip.

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ANNOUNCER: And in the board room, Mr. Trump brought up Nely's previous failures.

DONALD TRUMP, HOST, CELEBRITY APPRENTICE: You always have to learn from history and the past. GALAN: Absolutely.

TRUMP: Well, you got lucky twice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You keep bringing it up, and I don't know why you haven't gotten over that.

ANNOUNCER: Nely challenged Mr. Trump and he had had enough.

TRUMP: Nely, you're fired.

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BALDWIN: I love that. I love that clip. But tell me a behind the scenes story with Mr. Trump.

GALAN: Well, first of all, I mean, when I was on the show, I mean, that was like an act. That's like saying you're on "American Idol", right? And Simon Cowell --

BALDWIN: You're telling that wasn't reality? Reality TV?

GALAN: It's a TV show. We all knew we were in it for fun. But I will say this to you -- when I was on the show, I did a task with Gene Simmons and Gene Simmons made a mistake on the task and he's like, why don't you fire her? She's your number two. Right? Which is very sort of a business test or whatever, and Gene Simmons says, no, because she didn't do anything wrong, I did, and so he got fired and he took the bullet for me. So I think that tells you a lot about him. But even though I don't take it that seriously because it was a show.

BALDWIN: What was he like, though? When it wasn't a show and the cameras weren't all --

GALAN: You know, when we were on the show, it was a show. I just didn't think that act was going to become a political platform ever in my life.

BALDWIN: Is that how you see it? You see this as an act?

GALAN: Well, that was an act. I don't know what this is. You know, it's his new political platform, but I don't know how you get away from that once you're going forward and now you have all these people, this constituency, that are the consumers that run this country and the economy of this country. How do you then go back from that? I don't know.

BALDWIN: You talk about researching diversity in the workplace and women and how that's so important with your book, "Self Made". How do you see this presidency going? Who would you like to be the president?

GALAN: Well, I think the most important thing I have to say to women is, the most important thing we have is our vote and our purchase power. Right? And we have to take that very seriously, right? So we have to support companies with our purchase, and politicians with our vote, that support us and that are authentic to us.

BALDWIN: Who do you like? Who do you like?

GALAN: Well, who's been authentic to women for many, many years? All I can say, you know who it is. It's Hillary. I can't imagine that Donald Trump is going to back from this position that he's gotten himself into. But the most important women, the people in this country that are the sleeping giant are women, and diverse women are the number one consumers in America. I need not say more.

BALDWIN: Nely Galan, nice to meet you.

GALAN: Lovely to meet you.

BALDWIN: Thank you for coming through.

Next, let's talk about what's happened here in Cincinnati. Investigators are now looking into possible charges in the killing of this 450-pound gorilla. Critics are blasting the mother of the little boy who then ultimately fell in and they had to shoot the gorilla. Is the mother responsible? We'll talk to two moms next.

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[15:38:35] BALDWIN: The tragic incident inside the Cincinnati Zoo's gorilla exhibit will now be investigated by authorities. We've just learned that today. Both the city's police department and the county prosecutor saying they will look into the event involving that 3-year- old little boy who somehow slipped down into this gorilla pit and into the arms of an endangered great ape named Harambe. Zoo officials shot the gorilla, killed the gorilla, to save the boy, and now all these critics are accusing the child's mother, the parents, of negligence, want her to be held accountable. Other counter that that may not be fair. Harambe's former caretaker tried to explain what may have been going through this gorilla's mind.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He grew up to be a beautiful, beautiful teenage boy. He was coming into himself. And I raised two sons, and he was no different than they were.

He was in a situation where, here's this strange thing here that I don't know what -- what do I do? And do I fight it? Do I love it? Do I run from it? What do I do? And an unforeseen circumstance was born and he had to lose.

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[15:39:48] BALDWIN: Let me bring in two parents here. CNN digital correspondent, Kelly Wallace, and Erika Fleury, program manager for the North American Primate Sanctuary Alliance, a group that rescues and houses primates. She's also the mother of a 4-year-old. Kelly Wallace, turning to you, you've been -- you're a mom. We were talking about all of this, and what -- you've been talking to parents. What have you heard? KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've been reaching out to parents, because we have heard this sort of quick blame of the mother in particular, and saying that there should be charges, criminal charges, even investigate the family home. And so I reached out to parents throughout social media and most of the parents I'm talking to are coming down in one place which say, this could happen to a lot of parents. We all have those moments in our lives where something happens. You take your eye off the child, you're distracted, and something goes wrong, and something could terribly go wrong. So there's that sense -- obviously, most of us thankfully have not experienced this tragedy that this family is now experiencing, but many parents say that they can kind of understand, and are really disappointed in that quick social media blame game that we're all so quick to point fingers and say, it was your fault, and because you weren't watching this child, this happened. We don't know that that's really the truth there.

BALDWIN: Erika, with both of your hats on talking to me, what do you think?

ERIKA FLEURY, PROGRAM MANAGER, NORTH AMERICAN PRIMATE SANCTUARY ALLIANCE: I think this is a very unfortunate accident. And I think from the point of view of -- there's two points of view you can take. Things happen with children. We all know that. They're very unpredictable, and wild animals are very unpredictable. This is a wild animal who was in his home area, his enclosure in the zoo, and something unexpected fell into it. And we certainly can't fault him for examining the situation and seeing what was going on. It's very hard to guess at what his intentions might have been, and so this really raises a lot of questions about what is the proper response. I honestly don't think many people have an answer to that because there are so many issues being raised here.

BALDWIN: Do you -- just staying with you, Erika, just with your knowledge of these beautiful animals, we heard the zoo director yesterday saying, the figurative alarm bells were ringing when they knew this child was in the gorilla pit, the females went away, it was the male, he's 17, you heard the caretaker saying he's like a teenage boy, he got excited. He was potentially aggressive. The question has been, why didn't they tranquilize this animal, and the answer is what? That there could be potentially a lot more aggression before it was subdued.

FLEURY: Yes. Well, (inaudible) sanctuaries do not have any gorillas in their sanctuaries at this time so I cannot speak to the specifics of gorilla tranquilization. I know with other non-human primates, it can cause more aggression like you just mentioned. Time was of the essence in this case, and male gorillas -- it's engrained in them to protect their home range and their social group. So yes, the females left the area, but this gorilla felt it was his job to protect his area. And so it's very hard to tell what he was going to do and what this zoo staff's options were. They had to act very quickly, and they had a policy that they acted on.

BALDWIN: I think it's also just important to keep in mind, thank goodness the little boy is OK, just quickly here, and we would be having a much different discussion if he was not.

WALLACE: Exactly. I mean, we were talking before, what if the situation did not turn out this way and that the zoo keepers didn't act when they did and that something happened to the boy? It is a tragedy all around. Best for all of us to spend time to figure out, how do we prevent this from happening? What more can we do to prevent this from happening again?

BALDWIN: Exactly. Kelly Wallace, thank you very much. And Erika Fleury, thank you as well. Thank you.

Moments from now, Jake Tapper will be interviewing Hillary Clinton live on "THE LEAD". Her reaction to Trump's fiery news conference today and his showdown with the media. Coming up next.

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[15:47:37] BALDWIN: Donald Trump took his war on the media to a whole new level today. The presumptive Republican nominee at a news conference at Trump Tower, supposed to be the focus, this veterans, the donations, millions of dollars he's raised for dozens of veterans groups. Instead, Mr. Trump lashed out at the journalists who are asking the tough questions.

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TRUMP: -- out of goodness of my heart. I didn't want to do this where the press is all involved, and all of a sudden, everybody's 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.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.

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BALDWIN: Let's go to Washington, bring in our chief Washington correspondent, host of "THE LEAD", "STATE OF THE UNION", Jake Tapper. Tapper -- I mean, you sat front row at part of the White House press corps before hosting a show here, asking the tough questions there. What did you make of that scene today?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, look. This is a tough arena, obviously. I think that there are basic questions that should be asked of candidates in terms of accountability, whether it's Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, and I don't think that attacking the media is a particularly effective way to get your message across, but by the same token, this ain't (inaudible) for any of us, whether for Donald Trump or for those of us asking tough questions. And, whether it's being called a sleaze or other ways that presidents and senators have of making their displeasure known, you need a thick skin to be doing this.

BALDWIN: On the tough questions, I know you have Hillary Clinton on the show coming up next, and I won't ask you to show your cards, but what about the fact that the Clinton camp got ahead of that news conference at Trump Tower, attacked Mr. Trump on his record, on veterans? Just this strategy of theirs. Thoughts?

[15:50:00] TAPPER: Well, I mean, we'll be asking them -- I'll be asking Secretary Clinton about the veterans press conference and some of the remarks that Mr. Trump had to say about her and we'll also, in the short time allotted, try to talk about some other things, including the Inspector General report on her e-mail server, the state of the race with Bernie Sanders. But we'll see how much time we have before the line goes dead. But it's a long race. We'll have a lot of time to ask questions of both these candidates.

BALDWIN: OK. We will be watching, Jake Tapper's live interview with Hillary Clinton coming up next on "THE LEAD", moments away. Jake Tapper, thank you very much.

Coming up next, here, though, the summer Olympics just about two months away. Rio de Janeiro isn't quite ready. This beautiful city is facing some big, big problems.

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[15:55:01] BALDWIN: We are just a little more than 60 days away from the opening of the summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. Seems like the perfect place for the games, but a closer look now is revealing big, big problems, and it's not just Zika. CNN's senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, is in Rio with a look at the challenges ahead.

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's hard not to be seduced by Rio de Janeiro. This spectacular city, soon to be the host of the 2016 summer Olympics. Two months before the start of the games, construction crews are putting in the final touches at the Olympic venues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything is going to be ready on time. We're going to deliver the park fully commissioned the 24th of July.

WATSON: But despite Rio's beauty, the city and Brazil as a whole are facing some pretty daunting challenges, a whole series of unexpected setbacks, leading some to wonder, are Rio's Olympics somehow cursed?

Just days ago, a warning from more than 100 international doctors calling for the games to be postponed or moved because the mosquito borne Zika virus could threaten an expected half a million foreign visitors. That view rejected by the World Health Organization, which does advise pregnant women to avoid the Olympics entirely because of the risk of severe deformities to unborn children.

And then there's the political and economic crisis. Turmoil after congress suspended Brazil's elected president in an impeachment process last month. And high-level corruption scandals during the worst economic recession in generations, which has left more than 10 million Brazilians unemployed.

The economic hardship aggravating Rio's endemic problems with violent crime. Daily gun battles between police and drug gangs in the city's impoverished favelas as well as a surge in robberies. This month, members of the Spanish Olympic sailing team mugged at gunpoint.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just turn around to see what was happening and we saw (inaudible).

WATSON: Olympic sailors also worried about Rio's notoriously polluted bay, a dumping ground for much of the city's raw sewage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want to swim in it.

WATSON: Rio's mayor warns, this isn't the a first world city.

EDUARDO PAES, MAYOR, RIO DE JANEIRO: Don't come here expecting that everything will be perfect. We live in a country that has economic crisis, a country with lots of inequality. With all the problems that we've seen concerning corruption, bribes, but the city will be much better than it was when we got the games.

WATSON: But even one of the mayor's new infrastructure projects is now a deadly failure.

This brand new spectacular cliffside bike path was supposed to be a showcase project for the Olympics. Instead, it became a tragic setback when the waves took out part of the trail, killing two people last month.

In the turbulent run up to the Olympics, a virtual storm of bad news. That leaves you wondering, what could possibly happen next? Ivan Watson, CNN, Rio de Janeiro.

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BALDWIN: Ivan, thank you for that, and before I go, a sneak peek at this week's episode of "THE 80's", a closer look at the stigma of AIDS and how people were affected by it.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scientists at the National Centers For Disease Control in Atlanta today released the results of a study which shows that the lifestyle of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bobby Campbell of San Francisco and Billy Walker

of New York both suffer from a mysterious newly discovered disease which affects mostly homosexual men.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our best guess is that it's somehow related to gay lifestyle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was in the fast lane at one time, in terms of the way that I lived my life, and now I'm not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE" Researchers know of 413 people who have contracted the condition in the past year. One-third have died and none have been cured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of us who saw patients in those days shared a sense of desperation, as we saw more and more people become affected. And there would simply be no hope once they became ill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is killing these people?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's killing them is a severe, perhaps, very profound and maybe even permanent breakdown of the immune system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's caused by --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's caused by either some transmissable infection or a combination of other environmental exposures.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And right now, you gentlemen here in Atlanta are frantically searching for this agent, if there is one, that's causing this disease, and we certainly wish you luck in finding it.

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BALDWIN: "THE 80's", Thursday night, 9:00 here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me on this Tuesday. Let's send you to Washington -- "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.