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Donald Trump to Hold Rally in Tampa, Florida; Mitt Romney Criticizes Donald Trump's Rhetoric; Singer Christina Grimmie Shot and Killed; Interview with Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson; Stanford Students to Hold Demonstration on Lenient Sentencing of Former Student for Sexual Assault Conviction. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired June 11, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00] MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: That's it. Follow me on Twitter @Smerconish. I'll see you next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud. You shame yourself and you shame this great country.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And Pocahontas is not happy. She's not happy. Elizabeth Warren, she's one of the worst senators.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are not going to let Donald Trump or anyone else turn back the clock.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trickledown racism, trickledown bigotry, and trickledown misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart a character of America.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The searing words of a sexual assault victim managing to stir a nation and spot light an issue so often kept in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were selling merchandise and signing autographs. The suspect walked up and shot Christina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is horrible. Honestly it's probably one of the worst things that could literally happen right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Just a glimpse of all the things we're talking about. Good morning to you. We're grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you this morning in the CNN Newsroom.

So new this morning, Mitt Romney's revolt is not going unanswered, let's say. Donald Trump now says the last Republican presidential nominee, "choked like a dog." Those are his words. BLACKWELL: And that's not all. Donald Trump firing off on Twitter

this morning responding to CNN's exclusive interview with Mitt Romney. Romney vowing that he will not vote for Trump, calling the presumptive nominee's message, "racist, vulgar, and dangerous." Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: Presidents have an impact on the nature of our nation, and trickledown racism, trickledown bigotry, and trickledown misogyny, all these things are extraordinarily dangerous to the heart and character of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Now, here's what Donald Trump had to say a short time ago. Quote, "Mitt Romney had his chance to be a failed president but he choked like a dog. Now he calls me racist. But I am the least racist person there is." Obviously that coming to us from Twitter. CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond is live from Tampa, Florida, where that Trump rally is set to start about an hour from now. Jeremy, Trump's event last night drew a surprisingly, as I understand it, small crowd. What can you tell us about the attendance there this morning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, well, certainly, you know, by Donald Trump standards today's crowd is also a little bit smaller than he's used to. You got a couple thousand people here, but no line to speak of outside. I just went outside to check it out and there is no line of people waiting to get into this event. That's often something that Donald Trump says is there's thousands of people waiting outside in line to get in. Today that is not the case. This place is less than half full, which is certainly interesting given that Donald Trump is kicking off his general election campaign, so to speak, with Hillary Clinton now the presumptive Democratic nominee.

And this is a key state that he's going to have to try to win if he wants to win in the general election. Florida of course a battleground state consistently in multiple presidential elections. But this comes as Donald Trump is trying to unite the Republican Party as well, not just looking towards the general election but try to actually unite his own party around him specifically after he had all of this controversy around the judge overseeing his Trump University case. Donald Trump is pushing back on accusations that he is a racist, saying that he is the least racist person last night in his rally and today this morning in a tweet.

PAUL: All right, Jeremy Diamond, we appreciate it, thank you.

BLACKWELL: A lot to talk about here. So here with me we have Amy Kremer, co-founder of the group Women Vote Trump, also Tharon Johnson, former south regional director for Obama's 2012 campaign. Good to have both of you back.

AMY KREMER, CO-FOUNDER, WOMEN VOTE TRUMP: Good to be here.

BLACKWELL: Let's start with you, Amy, and Trump's defense last night against these claims, these accusations that he is a racist. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I am the least, just so you know, I am the least racist person, the least racist person that you've ever seen, the least. I mean, give me a break.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right, so, those claims that he's fighting off they come after a year of this. Let's watch --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.

Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on.

I've been treated very unfairly. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a wall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?

TRUMP: I don't think so at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:00] TRUMP: So, Amy, what do you say to those people who say that the history, the record here, is clear, the rhetoric, the words are racist?

KREMER: Look, I mean I think -

(INAUDIBLE)

BLACKWELL: Amy, let me cut you off because we're having an audio issue. We're going to come right back to you. We just need to fix the technical element. Tharon, let me come to you. You heard there. Hopefully your audio is good. Your response to Donald Trump saying he's not a racist after what some say is clear rhetoric?

THARON JOHNSON, FORMER SOUTH REGIONAL DIRECTOR, OBAMA 2012: Victor, if you listen to the clips that you just played, there's no way that anyone who has been paying attention to this race cannot say that Donald Trump has been making some very racist comments. When you have the speaker of the House, the highest-ranking Republican says, and I quote, that Donald Trump's comment about the judge being of Mexican heritage is the textbook definition of a racist comment, I mean, this is just crazy to me. And the thing about Donald Trump is that he says, well, I'm not

racist, just listen to me, let me tell you that I'm not. But he has done nothing -- and I mean doing -- to show us through his actions and through his campaign message that he is not a racist.

So, I think this is a very, very bad week for Donald Trump. He is constantly redefining rock bottom and basically, you know, dividing this country. And I think that he's got to regroup. But it was a very, very bad week for him and a very good week for Hillary Clinton.

BLACKWELL: All right, I think we fixed the audio issue. Amy, pick up on your point here.

KREMER: No, because you want to build a wall so we can stop the illegal immigration problem, that doesn't mean you're racist. You have Stacey Dash and Silk and Diamond, two Internet stars, who were at our press conference this week when we announced. There are all three African-Americans. They love Donald Trump.

There are plenty of African-Americans out there that love Donald Trump, and I think if he were racist they wouldn't be supporting him like that. That word has become a taboo. That word is thrown at you if somebody wants to stop you. And not only is it coming from the left but it's coming from the right now. And what I say to it is if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and all these people in the Republican Party had worked so hard to defeat Barack Obama in 2012 we might have Mitt Romney as president right now. But the problem is they cannot stand that they're losing control.

And, Victor, quite honestly, there's a bigger picture here. They -- if they keep doing this, they're going to lose all the support they have. The American people are fed up with it. And I will say this. Bernie, you know, it's not like the Democrats are united either because Bernie, his supporters are not getting on board with Hillary Clinton. There are a lot that are not getting on board with Hillary Clinton, and I think it's a message to Washington overall.

BLACKWELL: Let me come to you, Tharon. CNN learned that a major Clinton Foundation donor, donated between $1 million and $5 million to the Clinton Foundation, was appointed to a sensitive intelligence board when Clinton was secretary of state. The focus was arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation, but the donor, Rajiv Fernando, was a securities trader, a financial guy with no national security experience, donating seven figures.

The response from the Clinton campaign, let's put that up, because there are questions about if this was an exchange, this appointment was an exchange for that donation. "This was an unpaid, volunteer advisory board and one of several foreign policy-focused organizations that he was involved with. As the State Department itself has said, the ISAB, the International Security Advisory's Board charter calls for a diverse set of experiences for its members. That's all there is to it."

But when the State Department was asked about why this man, Rajiv Fernando, was qualified, how he was qualified, there was no response given. There were e-mails that showed that they were told to stall, and then the next day he resigned from the board. Your concerns about how damaging this can be for Secretary Clinton?

JOHNSON: You know, I'm not that aware of the situation, Victor, and I can't speak on behalf of the foundation or the campaign in regards to this. But my short answer would be this -- I think that Hillary Clinton and her campaign and other staff members have got to continue to do what they've been doing, and that is being transparent and make sure they answer all questions. There's no secret that there's been this very politically motivated investigation against Hillary Clinton while she was the secretary of state and even while she was first lady and even while she was a senator. And so I think what you've got to do is continue to just be transparent and answer the questions. But I want to respond really quickly --

KREMER: A criminal FBI investigation is not political. It is more serious.

BLACKWELL: Let -- I need you to wrap this up, Tharon. Last thought.

JOHNSON: Amy, you are my friend and we come on this show a lot and we debate civilly. And so I think we need to continue to do that.

[10:10:02] I think the problem with the Republicans right now they've created this guy in Donald Trump, and as a woman, Amy, you should be very concerned that this guy you support has consistently disrespected women and he continues to do so. And so there's no division --

KREMER: That's not the case at all, Tharon. I'll be happy to debate it with you at any time, but that's not the case.

BLACKWELL: And unfortunately we've run out of time to have that debate at this moment. But Tharon Johnson, Amy Kremer, thank you both. Unfortunately audio problem took up a little more time than we had hoped.

KREMR: Thanks for having me.

JOHNSON: Thank you. Thank you.

PAUL: A concert for an up-and-coming pop star turns deadly. Christina Grimmie, a finalist on the hit show "The Voice," shot and killed as she signs autographs with fans. A former cast mate is sharing his memories of her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTINA GRIMMIE, SINGER: Hey guys. What's up? We're in Orlando today. Please come to the show if you live near Orlando, Florida. We are at the Plaza live. Please come out. Bye!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Oh, my goodness, that video from singer Christina Grimmie, best known for her performances on season six of "The Voice," she was a finalist. There she was asking fans to come out to last night's concert. Police say after the concert she was shot and killed. In a few minutes Orlando police are holding a press conference to update people on what is happening. Nick Valencia is following the story this morning. But help us walk us through what happened.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We should start by saying there's a lot of unanswered questions, principally who this gunman was, how they were connected to Christina Grimmie, did they know her. Was this a fan that just got too obsessed with her? That's something that police are looking into.

You mentioned that 11:00 a.m. eastern press conference by the Orlando police department and hopefully we'll get some of those questions answered.

Another one of the outstanding questions, of course, is how this person was able to get not just one but two guns into this venue. We have reached out to the owner of Plaza Live, have not heard back from him.

[10:15:07] But, of course, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy. A great young musician, her life cut short in the prime of her career, just 22 years old. A YouTube sensation that had built a following of 3 million fans on YouTube. She parlayed that into an appearance on "The Voice" where she finished third in that season contest. A lot of people pouring remembrances on social media, remembering this young woman for the heart she had, the beautiful voice she had, and, of course, this terrible tragedy, this woman taken too soon.

PAUL: No doubt. Nick Valencia, hey, stay with us. We know that she competed on the sixth season of "The Voice" along with Josh Kaufman who was the winner back then, and he is with us now on the phone. Josh, I want to thank you for being with us, offer our condolences to you. We're so sorry that you are waking up to this news. Help us understand what she was like and what your reaction has been since learning this news?

JOSH KAUFMAN, "THE VOICE" WINNER: Sure. Like you said, obviously it's the kind of thing it's just sort of surreal to wake up to. And anybody who ever watched her perform knows how unbelievably talented she was. It was a privilege to have gotten to share a stage with her at the time that I did. And as you've seen all over social media, anybody who ever came across her or knew her knows that she was just a truly good person, somebody you'd love to be around, somebody who cared about the people around her and the world around her, and just a huge tragedy for sure.

PAUL: You had the privilege of knowing her. We only see her through the screen. But what about her do you think will stick with you most? KAUFMAN: I mean, I think, you know, this -- two summers ago after I

was on "The Voice" and we did "The Voice" tour that summer, and so obviously we spent a lot of time around her along with being on the show, too. And I think the big thing at such a young age she had found such a balance between focusing on this career that she had made for herself but not getting too caught up in that and really understanding what was important in life and just wanting to not be just a good performer and a good musician but a good person and really cared about that and about trying to make sure that that was the center of her life, that she was doing the right thing, making the right choices, and being an example for all of these people who watched her and, you know, had the privilege of seeing her talent.

PAUL: And obviously that balance and those values she held followed her up until her death last night with her brother being there, her brother essentially saving her life and many others possibly.

KAUFMAN: Yes.

PAUL: When we see that video that she posted, does it make you concerned about the threats that could be out there at these public venues when you perform or when others perform and how social media might work its way into that?

KAUFMAN: I mean, I guess something like this always is going to put a little bit of that thought into your head and -- it just seems so arbitrary and senseless that if it can happen there, it feels like in some sense it can happen anywhere. But at the same time, you have to go on and do everything that you would normally do, and I don't think anybody can let it affect how they go about things. But, yes, it's obviously a scary thing.

PAUL: Well, Josh Kaufman we wish you the best. We thank you, again, for taking time to talk to us. Our condolences to you and the entire "The Voice" family, certainly.

KAUFMAN: Absolutely. Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you so much.

And, Nick, we were talking about her family and how her brother was there and struggled. And I kept thinking about what it must have been like, first of all, for him to see her get shot, but then he had the wherewithal to chase this person.

VALENCIA: And we know that he saw this incredible tragedy unfold. He saw his sister gunned down and he saw this gunman take his own life as well. We know to Christina Grimmie, her family was a cornerstone in her life. She talked about her family, her mom and being a cancer survivor, her family often spotted at her events and concerts. And she was doing what a lot of people, a lot of celebrities want to do, connect with their fans, staying after her connect to chat, to connect with people, only for something like this unfold.

PAUL: Yes. Nick Valencia, thank you so much. Thank you to Josh Kaufman as well. And we'll keep you posted as we know in about 40 minutes --

VALENCIA: That press conference.

PAUL: Hopefully we get some more information. Thank you.

VALENCIA: You got it.

BLACKWELL: Also this weekend CNN has obtained court documents revealing new details of the former Stanford student who essentially assaulted a woman behind a trash bin. We'll have those new details for you in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 23 minutes past the hour right now. CNN has obtained court documents revealing more facets of the former Stanford student who sexually assaulted an unconscious woman behind a trash bin, including a history of drug and alcohol abuse. Brock Turner was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault, remember, and he was sentenced to only six months. He could be out in three.

According to a sentencing memo, though, investigators found evidence of excessive drinking and using drugs on his cell phone, including this picture of what they believe to be a bong. Our Sara Sidner is live near Stanford in Palo Alto, California. She has some new details for us on these incriminating photos. Good morning to you, Sara. What have you learned this morning?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. When you look through the court documents, there are a lot of details that are coming out. This is from the prosecution trying to inform the judge and give him some evidence so that he can sentence Brock Turner for a longer sentence. The prosecution asked for six years.

And in those particular things there were letters from Brock Turner himself where he did apologize for his actions, but then he also blamed the culture here on campus for his drinking, saying that he came from a small town in Ohio and that he really wasn't used to this kind of culture of drinking, you know, that he wasn't drinking alcohol.

[10:25:03] Well, it appears that he lied to the judge because in the prosecutor's sentencing memo she talks about and shows pictures and texts of his words and his actions before he showed up at Stanford where he talks about, for example, doing acid and asking about pot. And then while he was on the campus, here's a picture of him where he is holding a bong, and you'll see he's wearing his Stanford swimming shirt.

And so the prosecution was trying to say to the judge, look, he's not being fully truthful with you here. You need to understand that this has been something he learned on campus, this was something he was doing before. You can't blame alcohol and drugs for attacking someone either. So, those are some of the new details coming out in these documents, and there are many, many more that we are seeing that are really frustrating people and angering the public as they go through some of this case where they're seeing somebody's life unfold in front of you, and that is very unusual for people to care about every single detail. But I think some of them are so outrageous to folks that every day they're getting more and more angry. And we are expecting to see some protests in the next couple of days here on the Stanford campus.

PAUL: On the campus there, Sara Sidner, boy, thank you so much for walking us through all of that new information. And by the way, this Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. eastern a CNN in-depth look at the letter and the law, "The Stanford Rape Case" town hall.

BLACKWELL: Question -- is Donald Trump hurting Republicans' ability to raise cash? New worries that his rhetoric which many call divisive could hurt the party as it tries to do battle with Democrats this fall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Victor Blackwell.

PAUL: And I'm Christi Paul. So glad to have you with us here.

[10:30:00] We are standing by for a Donald Trump rally in Tampa, Florida. It's one of eight states that Trump will visit over the next week here. A lot of people wondering which Trump will we see today? Will the presumptive Republican nominee respond to the charges from Mitt Romney that his message is racist, vulgar, and dangerous? And when we refer to which Trump will it be, that is -- that is in reference to what we saw yesterday. We saw two very different Trumps in a matter of 24 hours.

BLACKWELL: Controlled and measured in the morning on teleprompter, and in the evening back to the Trump that we see typically at rallies. And if you haven't seen the interview, Donald Trump and Mitt Romney are locked into this rhetorical war, Trump calling Romney a, quote, "choker" as Romney renews his calls for Trump to release his tax returns and accusing the presumptive nominee of hiding a bombshell that's in this CNN exclusive with Wolf Blitzer. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: There's no question in my mind he will never release his tax returns. He will follow one excuse after another to say why he can't and he'll never release them, because there's something in there that he feels is worse for him than shooting someone on Fifth Avenue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: In addition to the concerns over the Republican infighting, some in the party are worried that Trump will not be able to just raise the money necessary to compete with the Democrats this fall. CNN politics reporter Teddy Schleifer is following this story for us. And we know that at this Romney summit, this was, I guess fair to say, a decidedly anti-Trump crowd.

THEODORE SCHLEIFER, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Right. Well, this is not a never-Trump conference per se, but it is, of course, a retreat for allies and associates and fundraisers for Governor Romney, who has been leading the charge against the presumptive nominee. You know, on the sidelines here, you know, the Trump talk has been overwhelming at times. Several major donors and fundraisers for Governor Romney who helped him raise $1 billion in 2012 say they haven't even been contacted, events in Boston and events in New York where Governor Romney's fundraisers there haven't received invitations. And that's kind of been much kind of the talk here at Park City where about 300 of Governor Romney's top friends and fundraisers are standing by.

BLACKWELL: We also know that one of the attendees is former Hewlett- Packard CEO Meg Whitman who ran for governor of California. And she made a pretty stark comparison, Trump, comparing him to Mussolini and Hitler. Tell us more about that exchange.

SCHLEIFER: She did. She did. This was in a conversation yesterday with Paul Ryan who, of course, has been sort of an unwilling at times endorser of Donald Trump, and he is, of course, also Mitt Romney's running mate.

Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard was talking and kind of grilling Speaker Ryan on his endorsement. And she brought up two figures who certainly she placed Trump in that historic trajectory of Hitler and Mussolini in discussing what Trump's rhetoric is. And I think that might be more charged language than several people, but, you know, the anti-Trump antipathy here is at times intense.

To be certain, you know, Governor Romney's associates do include some people who say for the good of the party. You know, we do need to fund raise for Donald Trump. We do need to make sure we save the Senate. We can't leave Donald Trump, we can't leave Paul Ryan out to dry. But certainly Meg Whitman kind of does speak for a lot of people here who are nervous and sometimes even a little scared about what Donald Trump would represent for the Republican Party.

BLACKWELL: Teddy Schleifer for us there in Park City, Utah. And we'll look for more headlines to come out of this summit. Teddy, thanks so much.

And in addition to what you heard already from former governor Mitt Romney, he's blasting Donald Trump as a racist, even going as far as to stay he would vote for a third party candidate. Not Trump, not Clinton, someone else, maybe even the third party candidate Gary Johnson who is the libertarian nominee. We have Gary Johnson with us here. Let's first listen to what Romney said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, would you consider supporting him?

ROMNEY: I'm going to look at what he has to say. His running mate Bill Weld is someone who I respect enormously.

BLITZER: The former governor of Massachusetts. ROMNEY: Exactly. And he was a fine governor, a fine friend, a

supporter of mine both in 2008 and 2012. If Bill Weld were at the top of the ticket it would be very easy for me to vote for Bill Weld for president. So I'll get to know Gary Johnson better and see if he's someone that I could end up voting for. That something which I'll evaluate over the coming weeks and months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And Johnson has the most to gain in a three-way matchup between himself, Trump, and Clinton. According to the latest FOX News poll, 12 percent support Johnson. Clinton tops at 39, 36 there for Trump.

And as we said, joining us now former New Mexico govern|, libertarian nominee for president, Gary Johnson. Mr. Johnson, good morning to you.

[10:35:03] GARY JOHNSON, LIBERTARIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Victor, great to be with you this morning.

BLACKWELL: So Romney is still on the fence but considering voting for you. I wonder, what is the strategy to win not just his votes, the votes of those allies with him in Park City, but those never-Trump voters? What's the strategy? Put some meat on the bone for us.

JOHNSON: Well, I think that Mitt Romney hit it on the head. He said, hey, I'm going to check out Gary Johnson and what he's got to say. I think that that kind of scrutiny holds up under the light of day. And myself and Bill Weld, we would not be doing this if there weren't the opportunity to actually win the presidency.

But to do that we've got to be in the presidential debates. And, hey, you pointed out a poll yesterday at -- or a couple days ago at 12 percent. Well, I do think that the number -- the polling numbers are going up because there is that kind of scrutiny happening right now. And two former Republican governors serving in heavily Democrat states, what's the formula there? Well, fiscally conservative over the top and socially, look, we're tolerant. We care. People should be able to make their own choices in their own lives.

BLACKWELL: What you described now is a passive strategy for earning their votes. You are waiting for them to find you. You are waiting for them to scrutinize others. You are waiting for the polls to put you in. What will you proactively be doing? And do you have the resources to compete? What will you be doing to go out and get those votes?

JOHNSON: Well, resources are a big key. So, I think the next reporting period is actually at the end of this month. We have to show that we are serious, that we are raising some money, and just continue to plug away. Among independents I'm actually leading Hillary Clinton. All these -- so I wouldn't call what we're doing at all passive. You know, we're very aggressively trying to get out and get attention. For the most part attention is sucked out of the room by Clinton and Trump. BLACKWELL: In a discussion of fundraising, when I interviewed you and

governor -- former governor Weld just a couple weeks ago, we noted that you had at the last filing period about $15,000 on hand. I mean, frankly that's not enough to buy you a good used car. But Governor Weld said that you need $20 million to $30 million to really get into the conversation and for people to take you seriously. How's that progress? Are you raising the big-dollar donations that you would need to get to this $20 million to $30 million threshold that Governor Weld set?

BLACKWELL: Well, Victor, here is the process. First you got to engage in the dialogue, and that dialogue is actually occurring. And there has to be interest. That interest is there. Has that $20 million to $30 million transpired, meaning, have checks been written? Not to this point, but it is a process, and it looks pretty bright.

And to address your earlier number about having 15 grand in the bank or whatever, it's pretty darn remarkable to be at this level in the polls for the amount of money that we have spent. So we are taking advantage of social media, of course, earned media. And I think it speaks volumes to what we might do in office, that being really fiscally conservative, that being, you know, very, very frugal with money spent.

BLACKWELL: All right, former New Mexico governor and Libertarian Party nominee for party Gary Johnson, good to talk with you again.

JOHNSON: Victor, always. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Well, students and many others are outraged over the lenient sentence handed down to Brock Turner after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman behind a trash bin. He may only serve three months of a six-month sentence. And now they're planning a demonstration in the middle of graduation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: I have to believe that this has been a topic of conversation for you because it has been for so many, the outrage that is growing following a judge's lenient sentence of a former Stanford university student who sexually assaulted a woman behind a trash bin. Brock Turner is who we are talking about, convicted on three felony accounts of sexual assault, sentenced to only six months. And on top of that he could serve only three.

Now Stanford students are planning a demonstration during graduation tomorrow. Can you imagine? They plan to carry signs and wear decorated caps to show their support for Turner's victim.

Madeline MacDonald is with us now. She's a rape survivor, a student at Brigham Young University. Madeline, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. We really appreciate it. I know it's a sensitive subject. We appreciate your voice in this. People at Stanford and across the country, as you've noticed, they've been showing their solidarity for this victim. Help us understand how that affects a rape survivor.

MADELINE MACDONALD, SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM: So, first off I just want to clarify. I'm not a rape survivor. My situation was sexual assault. That's something I just want to make sure is clear.

PAUL: I appreciate that. Thank you for the clarification.

MACDONALD: But how that support affects victims, it's really powerful to know that they're believed and to know that their story matters to people. One of the most damaging aftereffects of sexual assault or rape is that self-doubt. And that's a really universal thing that happens to a lot of survivors. So having that reinforcement, knowing that people stand with you, is very, very powerful.

PAUL: Did you feel that doubt yourself? Did you doubt what happened? Did you doubt how some people try to blame the victim? Did you have any of those feelings yourself?

MACDONALD: Yes. In my situation I faced a lot of doubt, both internally and from external sources. It's really hard. In our society there's a lot of victim-blaming that just goes on. A lot of people's reactions to hearing that you're a sexual assault or rape survivor is, what were you wearing? Were you asking for it? And when you hear that for long enough, you start to internalize it and you start to think, well, I thought I was dressed fine, but maybe it's my fault. And, you know, it takes a lot to be able to bring that back and realize that sexual assault is sexual assault and that you didn't do anything to ask for it. So, self-doubt is a very big part of the sexual assault survivor experience.

[10:45:12] PAUL: And in knowing that and hearing the letter that this victim wrote and read in the courtroom to Brock Turner, what was your reaction to how open and honest and blatant she was, how raw she was, about her feelings and what had happened?

MACDONALD: I think it was incredibly powerful. And it was really great to see her being so raw and open and honest.

The one thing that I do want to clarify there, though, is I hope that this doesn't lead to a more universal expectation of all victims to share that many details. In her situation, she shared a lot of information. And it's so powerful to hear that from her perspective and that it empowered her to share those experiences.

But, you know, there's a lot of people that don't feel comfortable sharing that many details about their -- you know, their assaults, their rapes, their courts and criminal cases. And they're just as deserving of sympathy and belief.

PAUL: You know, CNN obtained these court documents that show Turner's history of aggressive behavior as well as drug and alcohol abuse. And in these documents it's revealed that he targeted his victim's sister first. Are there signs, are there patterns that you think society needs to be more cognizant of in order to prevent these types of attacks? MACDONALD: So, in some cases there are warning signs. There are

things, like, as you're saying previous targeting behaviors, histories of violence. But in a lot of cases, rapists and, you know, people that commit sexual assaults, those people are often your friends, your boyfriends, people that you study with and you have classes with. It's really hard to say, oh, look, there's this one type of person, and if they fit "x," "y," and "z," then stay away from them.

PAUL: Yes. More than -- I'm sorry, I wanted to ask you real quickly before we run out of time. When we talk about the more than a million people who signed the petition to recall Judge Aaron Persky after he said the prison would have, quote, "a severe impact on Turner," if you could sit down with that judge, what would you say to him?

MACDONALD: Honestly, I don't know what more there is to say than what's already been said. There's such a need to believe victims and to set that legal precedent that -- that our experiences are enough to be believed and that we're trustworthy. And until we have a nationwide belief and a movement away from victim blaming and realizing that rape is a serious, serious crime, we're never going to be able to have a society that's free of rape and crime against women.

PAUL: Well, Madeline MacDonald, you are brave as well to come out and talk about it. We thank you. I know that many women watching and victims who may not have been talking about it thank you as well. But do take good care of yourself.

MACDONALD: Thanks so much for having me.

PAUL: Of course. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Now we want to take a moment to honor this week's CNN hero. Every year thousands of kids age out of the U.S. foster care system, suddenly forced to fend for themselves. Many have no family, no possessions, nowhere to live. But in Los Angeles, Georgie Smith is working to change that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGIE SMITH, CNN HERO: This population is most likely to be homeless and to become incarcerated and to be jobless. The odds are stacked high against them. And they finally t to that amazing place of having their own space because they've never had their own home. And then they're sleeping on the floor. We need to lift them up and create this foundation from which they can thrive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: To see how Georgie gives these former foster kids a real chance for success, you can watch her amazing story. It's a really good one, right now at CNNHeroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It is the battle of the talking robots, also known as smart assistant, making it sound like our human assistants are not smart. Isn't that right?

BLACKWELL: Yes, well, I can say hey, Siri, do something, but, you know --

PAUL: You didn't have the real answer?

BLACKWELL: I just trust her. I trust her.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: You probably know Siri, of course, Apple's digital assistant. But Google, Microsoft and Amazon all make virtual assistants too. So which one is the smartest. CNN's business correspondent Samuel Burke put them head to head.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMUEL BURKE, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, Google. OK, Google. Like in a relationship, sometimes they just don't want to listen to you.

Tech companies are pouring billions of dollars into AI, artificial intelligence, especially virtual assistants. And they're getting smarter all the time, so we have a battle of the talking robots.

Let's start with the basics. Hey, Cortana, what's the weather like today?

VOICE: It's currently 85 and mostly sunny.

BURKE: Alexa, what time is it in London?

VOICE: The time in London is 7:41 p.m.

BURKE: All right, so they're all pretty good at answering basic questions. But their true power doesn't lie in what they can say. It's what they can do.

OK, Google, add milk to my shopping list.

VOICE: OK, adding milk to your shopping list.

BURKE: Hey, Siri, send a text message to mom. "I just want you to know you're the best mom ever."

VOICE: Want me to send it?

BURKE: Send.

VOICE: Done.

BURKE: But things get a little more complicated if you want to do something like, let's say, play music. If you ask Google or Alexa, play songs by Jay-Z.

(MUSIC) [10:55:11] BURKE: You can listen to it on Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, any service you want. But if you ask Siri, she'll only play it on Apple music. Cortana, only Windows Media Player. Siri and Cortana have a lot of limitations like this because unlike Google Now and Alexa, they're not open platforms. But for Apple that could all change at their developer conference when many expect them to open Siri up.

All right, so who is the best? Surprisingly, Alexa seems to be the most useful and understand the most questions. Her big disadvantage, she's stuck at home. So asking her things like driving directions are pointless until she can fit in your pocket. Alexa, say goodbye.

VOICE: Goodbye.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back. And we are just moments from what's scheduled to be the start of Donald Trump's rally in Tampa, Florida. We'll look out for that one.

[11:00:02] PAUL: Also waiting on a news conference to find out exactly what happened in the death of "The Voice" finalist Christina Grimmie.