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Orlando Gunman Bought Plane Tickets; Clinton Attacks Trump; Trump to Match Donations. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 21, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In "The Situation Room." For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next. For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, thank you so much.

Great to be with all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN here.

We begin with breaking news. Chilling new details this afternoon about the movements of the Orlando gunman before he committed the worse shooting massacre in U.S. history. CNN has learned that the shooter bought three plane tickets for himself, his wife and his young child and he did that just one day before murdering 49 people. Law enforcement officials also revealing what the killer did the night of the attack.

Evan Perez has all this information and more. He's our justice correspondent who's been on this story since the beginning. Also with us, Casey Jordan, criminologist, behavioral analyst and attorney.

So, welcome to both of you.

And, Evan, before we discuss all of this, what more have you learned?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, we've - we've learned that the Orlando gunman went to the Pulse Nightclub earlier Saturday night and then left before returning to carry out his attack as the gay nightclub was preparing to close early on that Sunday morning. Now, officials we've been talking to say that the gunman paid the entrance fee, he obtained a wristband and entered the club. Investigators believe he may have been checking out the security at the club.

Now, the FBI has been using surveillance video, cell phone tracking, along with witness interviews to build a timeline of his whereabouts on the night of the attack, but they still - they're still working to determine what he was doing for a roughly two-hour period when he left the club and then he returned.

We're also learning that the day before he launched the attack, Brooke, he had bought three plane tickets for him, his wife and his child to travel from West Palm Beach Airport to San Francisco. This trip was supposed to take place in July. Now, investigators don't know why, if he was planning an attack, he made these travel plans.

Now his wife has told investigators that when the gunman left his home on Saturday in Fort Pierce, which is about a two-hour drive from Orlando, he was angry and he carried a bag with his guns. She said she pleaded with him not to leave, grabbing him by the arm, and she says, Brooke, that she didn't know that he was planning attack, but she tried multiple times sending him text messages and to call him with no - with no response.

BALDWIN: No response.

PEREZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: So with all of these bits and pieces, and I'm still left wondering, you know, Casey, did he walk into this nightclub the second time that Saturday night, you know, knowing he would die? How do you piece all of this together, the fact that he bought the tickets and all of what Evan just reported?

CASEY JORDAN, BEHAVIORAL ANALYST: I think one thing that is the overarching theme with Omar Mateen is that everyone describes him as an incredibly angry man. And that the key in this trajectory in this timeline is that he had a terrible fight with his wife and left with his gun. I truly don't believe that he knew what he was going to do when he left that home. He just was extraordinarily angry. He took his guns. He probably did not have an actual target in mind that night, but he had been thinking about doing this act for quite a while. I think he made the plans to travel because he really thought he was going to travel when he made them. Although there is a slight chance he made them as a red herring, knowing he was on a watch list, to throw the FBI because he knew he was going to do some sort of an attack that evening.

BALDWIN: Or - or even, you know, who knows really, right, what the wife knows. We know she's now hired an attorney, according to Evan's reporting. I mean, Evan, to you, I mean, it is curious, though, the fact that he had gone to the Pulse Nightclub multiple times before with her, he had gone earlier that night, you know, and maybe he bought the tickets because he wanted his wife to think they were going to California, even though he had other plans.

PEREZ: There's so many unanswered questions.

BALDWIN: Yes.

PEREZ: And really his frame of mind is what we're getting to. We know that - at least investigators believe that he had been planning this for some time. The question is, was this day just a day that he decided, OK, this is it. This is when we're going to do this? Or whether there was something else that triggered this. We're not sure. Investigators are still working to try to put that together and really they're also still focusing on the wife to make sure they understand exactly what she knew and what, you know, what was in her mind, why she didn't call authorities when he left the house with - with the guns.

BALDWIN: And where did he go in the two hours before going to Pulse and then returning to Pulse with -

PEREZ: Right.

BALDWIN: Stacked with weapons and ammunition.

For now, thank you, Evan Perez. And, Casey Jordan, thank you. The latest there on Orlando. More on that ahead.

But first, this.

New developments here in the race for the White House. Donald Trump set to go on the offensive after weeks of playing defense. That includes a new fundraising maneuver. Some may call it a stunt and a big speech tomorrow. But today, Hillary Clinton has the ball. Minutes ago, she spoke to this crowd there in the all-important state of Ohio. Secretary Clinton hit the billionaire businessman on an issue that is known to be really his strength, the economy. And that is not just according to Trump, by the way, but that's according to a brand new CNN/ORC polling where the majority, you know, when asked, who would better handle the economy, it's Donald Trump. But Secretary Clinton just explained point by point why she thinks Donald Trump wouldn't just be bad for the economy but that he would be, her word, "dangerous."

[14:05:37] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You might think that because he has spent his life as a businessman, he'd be better prepared to handle the economy. Well, it turns out, he's dangerous there, too. Just like he shouldn't have his finger on the button, he shouldn't have his hands on our economy.

Now, I don't say that because of typical political disagreements. Liberals and conservatives say Trump's ideas would be disastrous. The Chamber of Commerce and labor unions, Mitt Romney and Elizabeth Warren, economists on the right and the left and the center all agree, Trump would throw us back into recession.

One of the leading firms that analyzes the top threats to the global economy, called the Economist Intelligence Unit, comes out with a new list of threats every month. It includes things like terrorism and the disintegration of Europe. And this month, number three on the list is Donald Trump becoming president of the United States. Just think about that as he made a fortune filing bankruptcies and stuffing his creditors. I'll get to his business practices in a minute, but the United States of America doesn't do business Trump's way.

It matters when a presidential candidate talks like this because the world hangs on every word our president says. The markets rise and fall on those statements. Even suggesting that the United States would default would cause a global panic.

He's written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at chapter 11. Go figure. And over the years, he intentionally ran up huge amounts of debt on his companies and then he defaulted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And again, we know Trump will be giving a speech tomorrow. But for now, let's go to my friend and colleague in Columbus, Ohio, our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar, who is there for that speech.

So, you know, we remember Secretary Clinton in San Diego, you know, taking Trump to task on national security, now on his business record and the economy and a Trump presidency. How do you think she did?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In trying to undercut him on a strength, as you noted there, Brooke, in a place like Ohio where the economy really took a hit during the recession and even though there has been a recovery, there is still a sense here among so many Ohioans that things are not good and they want things to be better. And Hillary Clinton really seemed to have this message for folks here that, yes, I know you want things to be better, but she's trying to explain how she says - how she believes or asserts that things could be worse under Donald Trump.

And you have a place like Ohio and these other industrial states where, for instance, outsourcing is such a dirty, dirty word here, she highlighted products that Donald Trump has made that were not made in the U.S. She highlighted his four casinos and hotels over and over that had gone into bankruptcy, saying that this is something that he would basically do with the U.S. economy. So she's trying to win over these voters who think that Donald Trump will do a better job when it comes to creating jobs as she's trailing in the polls when it comes to the economy, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, just quickly, he has responded. What did he say on Twitter?

KEILAR: He did. He tweeted. He said, "I am the king of debt." And this was in response to Hillary Clinton using this moniker that he had used for himself, trying to use it against him. He said, "I am the king of debt. That has been great for me as a businessman, but is bad for the country. I made a fortune off of debt, will fix U.S." And that this is something that even though he benefitted personally, there's certainly a feeling among many voters that he could use that acumen to help the U.S. So that's really the challenge that Hillary Clinton has.

[14:10:20] BALDWIN: Brianna Keilar, thank you very much.

You know, during that speech there in Columbus, Secretary Clinton went after Trump's policies, as well as his products, specifically where some of them are made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Trump's own products are made in a lot of countries that aren't named America. Trump ties are made in China. Trump suits, in Mexico. Trump furniture in Turkey. Trump picture frames in India. Trump bar ware in Slovenia. And I could go on and on, but you get the idea. And I'd love for him to explain how all that fits with his talk about America first. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's begin there. I have Austan Goolsbee with me today, former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, and now a Hillary Clinton surrogate, and Barry Bennett is here, a Trump supporter who used to advise the Carson campaign.

So, gentlemen, welcome to both of you.

And, Barry, let me just turn to you right out of the gate and ask, you know, to Secretary Clinton's point, I mean, listen, his whole moniker is, is America first.

BARRY BENNETT, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Yes.

BALDWIN: And that's really resonating with a lot of Americans.

BENNETT: Right.

BALDWIN: But when she, you know, line by line points out the ties and the picture frames and the bar ware, that's not made in America.

BENNETT: Right. And it's - and all that stuff is coming overseas because of her policies, right? The Barack Obama/Clinton policies have created only one thing in America, poverty. Over 12.7 million new people on food stamps. The lowest labor participation rate in history. It's incredible that she would give a lecture on the economy. Political advice, she shouldn't talk about it.

BALDWIN: OK. Austan, professor, what do you think of that?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, CLINTON SURROGATE, ECONOMIC ADVISER: Look, that's the - I would make a few things. First, that just confused Donald Trump was doing this in his business practices before President Obama was ever the president. His business practices and the bankruptcies, et cetera, go back to the 2000s, to the '90s and even before.

I thought the most damaging things that Hillary Clinton said today was really on the policy, and it was using Donald Trump's own words and own ideas and pointing out his tax plan will add $30 trillion to the debt. His own statements that people - workers in the United States are paid too much and that their - the wages should be lower and go - just going through what he actually said, I think he will have a hard time trying to get out of that.

BALDWIN: Barry, I mean she's pointed out she's worried that if there were to be a President Trump, that we are in for a recession.

BENNETT: Yes, well, she should be worried because she's not going to get elected, right? The wrong track number in this country right now is at 45 percent. Forty-five percent of Americans think we're headed in the wrong direction and she wants to continue the Obama policies on for another four or eight years. That's ludicrous. It's not going to happen. Which is why Donald Trump is preferred in handling the economy by eight points in the latest national poll that CNN has.

BALDWIN: Let me come back to you.

GOOLSBEE: I think it's a little dangerous perhaps - it's perhaps a little dangerous for Trump and his supporters to be trumping the polls in which Donald Trump's disapproval rating is over 70 percent. The worst that any (INAUDIBLE) has ever had in (INAUDIBLE) polls.

BALDWIN: Well, let's be - let's be fair to both of them. The unfavorable are the highest for both than ever, ever, ever. Off of that, though, you know, we -

GOOLSBEE: But Trump's are the highest of any candidate ever.

BALDWIN: OK. From the polls, though, you know, she again resurrected this notion that he should release his tax returns. But, Austan, you know, at the same time, you know, folks could say, look in the mirror, you need to release your Goldman Sachs transcripts. I mean, will pigs fly before that happen? Why not?

GOOLSBEE: Well, wait, there - well, hold on. First, Donald Trump is the one who said that if - if the president released his birth certificate that he would release his tax returns when he was sponsoring the birther movement. The Clintons have released all of their taxes going back to the 1970s. There has never been a presidential candidate in more than a half-century that has not released their tax returns. And I thought it was interesting in this speech, Hillary Clinton raised - it's not just a generic why should you release your tax returns. Donald Trump is claiming that he's worth $10 billion, but the tax returns that he has released from the 1990s show that he did not pay one cent in taxes and that he might have had negative income reported. So I think it's a perfectly legitimate issue to raise.

BALDWIN: I'm going to follow up with Barry on that, but what about the Goldman Sachs transcripts, Austan?

[14:15:02] GOOLSBEE: The Goldman Sachs transcripts - are you saying that that's the same as the tax returns? They released their tax returns.

BALDWIN: Would - right, no, I'm not saying it is, but I'm just saying if, you know, one - one camp is calling - I understand, you know, this - this should be done, but if one camp releases tax returns, do you think that it will happen before November 8th when we see, you know, Secretary Clinton be transparent when it comes to what she said in those Wall Street speeches?

GOOLSBEE: I have no idea. She has said that if she releases transcripts of her speeches, they - that Donald Trump should release the transcripts of his deposition and his speeches where he's being sued.

BALDWIN: OK.

GOOLSBEE: So that seems like it would be appropriate, just like both - they should both release their tax returns. BALDWIN: And, Barry, just turning to you. I mean holding your feet to

the fire in terms of - you know, you know, Austan's absolutely right about releasing tax returns. Even Mark Cuban, who has come on and said I will be Trump's - you know, I'll be on the Trump ticket, and he's like questioning whether or not he has the goods, the money. You know, where - what is the truth here?

BENNETT: Well, he's already said he would release his tax returns when the audit is finished. It's not finished. Hopefully it will be finished soon.

BALDWIN: Does he have the money he says he has?

BENNETT: You're never going to glean someone's net worth from their tax return. That's crazy. I mean Austan's smarter than that for goodness sakes.

So he's filed all these - his financial disclosures with the ethics office in Washington. You can go through and see all of his assets. It's not a question.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. We'll follow up on this a little later. Barry Bennett, thank you. Austan Goolsbee, thank you.

The headline this morning, Hillary Clinton is trouncing Donald Trump in fundraising. Back to here, the numbers of - what they have in the bank. The headline now, Trump promises to match donations over the course of the next 48 hours. How desperate is his campaign? Will this be a success? Is this a stunt?

Plus, one of Trump's rumored running mate options joins me live on what he thinks of Trump firing his campaign manager. We'll ask him as well about what Trump may have in the bank.

And have you seen this picture? A mother thinks she is just taking a picture of her daughter clowning around until she discovers that this is what she learned to do in school in the case of an active shooter. She's three. We'll talk to that mother live coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:23] BALDWIN: All right, so we just heard from Hillary Clinton in the great state of Ohio laying out her plan for why she says Donald Trump would be, her word, "disastrous" for the U.S. economy. Tomorrow, Donald Trump will get his chance to attack Hillary Clinton over what he calls her, quote, "failed policies and bad judgment." But Mr. Trump is facing another challenge as he gears up for his general election battle with Secretary Clinton, raising money.

Take a look at these numbers. This is really - this is stunning. Trump raised only $3 million last month compared with $27 million by the Clinton campaign. And, by the way, by the end of May, the Clinton camp had 42 million, Trump, in the bank, 1.3. But Trump speaking to NBC this morning says he has a plan in mind to infuse more cash into his campaign if it comes to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (voice-over): If it gets to a point, what I'll do is just do what I did in the primaries. I spent $55 million of my own money to win the primaries. Fifty-five. Now, you know, that's a lot of money, I mean by even any standard. I may do that again in the general election. I have a lot of cash and I may do it again in the general election, but it would be nice to have some help from the party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now here's what we learned today, that Donald Trump is vowing to match dollar for dollar what's donated to his campaign within the next 48 hours. He says he'll do that up to $2 million. So let's begin there with CNN political director David Chalian.

First just on the numbers. I still go back to the numbers in the bank. And to see, you know, I mean who would have thought you would say 1.3 million is chump change, but it is when you look at what the Clinton campaign has.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Right. And that is the right number to look at, cash on hand. That's what every campaign points to at the end to see - because that's what you need to see, how much they have to fund going forward.

A couple caveats to put out there. One, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination by spending less than previous candidates have done, right?

BALDWIN: Lean and mean, as we heard Corey Lewandowski say. Yes.

CHALIAN: So that is worth noting. He - he has been able to figure a way to do this where it doesn't cost as much. But that doesn't mean that - money is still the mother's milk of politics. It is - it is the thing that - from where all things grow. And so even if you're running a nontraditional campaign, even if you can really exploit free media in a way that other candidates haven't, you still need the infrastructure, build the ground games.

And you heard Sean Spicer on our air earlier today from the Republican National Committee, the group upon which Donald Trump is relying for all that infrastructure and ground game, you heard him say, listen, Donald Trump can just, with a stroke of a pen, write a check and he can get his total up. But the question is, is he going to do that. And you heard him hint at it this morning, but we haven't seen that yet and we have not yet seen him infuse his campaign with his own money in that way for the general.

BALDWIN: Why do you think - so when we were chatting in commercial break, you know, when you - when you look at how nontraditional this campaign has been, but you also look at the swell of support for say a Bernie Sanders, and he has had a lot of donations, a lot of small dollar donations, but from across the board. Why do you think we haven't seen that from the Trump campaign? Because he's been self- funded up until this point, essentially? CHALIAN: And been very proud of that fact, right? Remember, he spent

all of last year touting that he is funding his campaign himself. He kind of discounted the fact that he actually did raise north of $10 million from his website, from selling hats or what have you. So he wasn't all self-funding. But he was very proud of that fact. And it said, look, no strings on me, right? Like, I have donated myself - my money to this campaign. I have no lobbyists that I have to answer for. I have nobody to do favors for because I'm funding this. That's a very attractive quality for a lot of his voters. It's just so ironic because he is very much the kind of candidate, as you just pointed out, look what he's doing now with this call for the next 48 hours.

[14:25:10] BALDWIN: Yes.

CHALIAN: He's the kind of candidate with this grassroots army of support that he has out there that would normally do quite well with low-dollar fundraising, text here, need to know (INAUDIBLE) -

BALDWIN: Although, to your point, putting a cap at $2 million.

CHALIAN: Clearly.

BALDWIN: It's just not enough money.

CHALIAN: It limits how much he's willing to put in. And it's not - it again raises the questions that Hillary Clinton raised in her speech today.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CHALIAN: But I do think he is that kind of candidate that could do well. We remember Howard Dean put up the bat, everyone go online and donate. You saw Bernie Sanders had that effect as well. Certainly Barack Obama had some success with that. And Donald Trump has that kind of force around him, but he's been so proud of self-funding that he's sort of kept it at bay and now can he get that chugging along.

BALDWIN: We'll see. We'll see how he does -

CHALIAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: Especially in this next 48 hours. David Chalian, thank you very much.

CHALIAN: Sure. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, he is one of Donald Trump's strongest defenders on Capitol Hill. He is also rumored to be on the short list for a presidential - vice presidential ticket. Senator Jeff Sessions joins me live. We'll get his reaction to Secretary Clinton's speech moments ago, calling Donald Trump an economic disaster. We have a lot for the senator.

Also ahead, we're following breaking news. We have chilling new details just into us about this gunman behind the Orlando attack, including what he did hours before and really the day before that massacre.

All of this as we wait to hear from the U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who is there in Orlando today. We will bring that to you live.

Lots happening on this Tuesday. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)