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Trump Speaks Amid GOP Rejection; Susan Collins Not Supporting Trump; Trump Spreads Stories. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 09, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:18] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Here we go. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Any moment now, Donald Trump will speak in North Carolina. We'll take it live. Question is, will he stay on script and confirm he is pivoting, that he's righting his campaign ship, or will he go off track and give more reasons for leaving Republicans to reject him.

Remember that? The big night. The balloons. The family. The night Donald Trump formally accepted the nomination from the Republican Party to become the next president of the United States? Well, that post-convention glow celebration tarnished quickly. In the 19 days since the Republican National Convention ended there in Cleveland, more and more Republicans - look at all these faces on your screen - more Republicans have jumped ship, saying they cannot vote for him. The latest mega name, Senator Susan Collins of Maine. And in just a couple of moments, you will see her very first television interview.

She just penned a "Washington Post" column on why she just can't support Donald Trump. So in part she writes, quote, "the unpleasant reality that I have had to accept is that there will be no new Donald Trump, just the same candidate who will slash and burn and trample anything and anyone he perceives as being in his way or an easy scapegoat." She goes on, "regrettably, his essential character appears to be fixed and he seems incapable of change or growth." So we'll talk to Jamie Gangel. She interviewed Senator Collins here, coming up.

So, will Trump mention any of this when he speaks momentarily in Wilmington, North Carolina? Let's go to our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, who is standing by at that event.

Jim Acosta, what might today bring, you think?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's going to bring more Donald Trump and it's going to bring more of that in just a few moments, Brooke. We're in a very packed arena in Wilmington, North Carolina and we are waiting to see how Donald Trump responds to all of this criticism he's gotten from inside the Republican Party, names like Susan Collins, that you just mentioned. Also those 50 former national security officials from Republican administrations going all the way back to Richard Nixon. We have gotten some sense as to how Donald Trump is going to respond

to all of this in that he fired off a statement last night, he did an interview on one of the morning shows this morning, basically saying that those 50 or so national security officials represent the past, they represent the mistakes made during the Bush administration, getting the country into the war in Iraq. So I suspect that Donald Trump has something to say about those national security officials. He'll talk about that.

When it comes to Susan Collins, that's a very interesting question because, keep in mind, the state she hails from, Maine, is a state that he's been visiting recently in the hope of somehow pulling off some kind of an upset or peeling away an electoral state - electoral vote in that state when election time comes around in November. But I talked to a couple of senior advisors to this campaign over the last 12 hours and they're basically shrugging off this criticism. And Donald Trump himself, in one of the interviews that he did earlier this morning, Brooke, basically said he is not going to change the way he operates. That essentially the temperament he's put on display he feels has been just fine and that his tactics at these rallies and so forth where he does concern people inside the mainstream moderate part of the Republican Party, that he's going to continue those tactics because they feel like, inside the Trump campaign, the candidate feels this way as well, that's what draws these big crowds. And so if Donald Trump were to all of a sudden get on teleprompter, get scripted, get boring, perhaps he wouldn't have the kind of level of intensity that he's seeing out here.

But I can tell you, Brooke, we saw a very different Donald Trump on display yesterday in that economic speech at the Detroit Economic Club. He was on a teleprompter. He was on script. When there were protesters, he didn't fly off the handle. He didn't go off on those protesters and say, get them out. He smiled, he said thank you and he sort of moved on.

So it is sort of a question as to which Donald Trump we're going to see when he comes out here in a few moments, but I suspect it's going to be more of what we've seen all throughout this campaign. He will let the fur fly when he feels like it's - it's necessary. And we'll be waiting to see what he has to say about all of this Republican criticism he's been getting here in just a few moments, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We will be back to you in Wilmington momentarily to listen to Mr. Trump, to see how he reacts to what I'm about to tell all of you.

So here it is, Senator Susan Collins' first TV interview since making this major announcement. She talked to CNN's special correspondent Jamie Gangel moments ago. Here she was.

[14:05:04] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator Collins, have you been thinking about this for a long time. You've said you were troubled about Donald Trump. Now you say that he lacks the temperament, self-discipline, and judgment. Why did you decide now that you weren't going to vote for him anymore? SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: The tipping point for me was his attack on the Khans, when he showed absolutely no empathy or compassion for their terrible loss and instead attacked these two gold star parents, and also attacked their religion. That was just the final straw for me.

GANGEL: Bottom line, do you think he was - it would be dangerous if he was president?

COLLINS: Donald Trump, in my judgment, would make a perilous world even more dangerous. I worry that his tendency to lash out and his ill-informed comments would cause dangerous events to escalate and possibly spin out of control at a time when our world is beset with conflicts.

GANGEL: Sounds like you're saying you think he would be dangerous.

COLLINS: I do believe that he has the potential to cause world events that spin out of control in a dangerous way.

GANGEL: So the $64,000 question that you didn't answer in the op-ed is, who are you going to vote for?

COLLINS: I truly don't know. I have a lot of concerns about Hillary Clinton and I am not going to support her. If the Libertarian ticket were reversed with Governor Bill Weld, former governor of Massachusetts, leading that ticket, then I would vote for the Libertarian ticket because I know Bill Weld well and I respect him a great deal. I may well end up writing in a name for president.

GANGEL: We talked at the Republican Convention in Cleveland a few weeks ago and the door was only open a crack, but there was - the door was still open that you might vote for Hillary Clinton. But if the election is close, would you vote for Hillary Clinton in order to defeat Donald Trump?

COLLINS: I really don't anticipate voting for Hillary. We worked well together in the Senate. But when I listened to her convention speech, I heard a litany of new, expensive programs, promises of free this and free that, that I believe would bankrupt our country and worsen our $17 trillion deficit. I also am concerned that her answers in the investigation of her e-mails do not match up with what the FBI found. And those are issues that stand in the way of my supporting her.

GANGEL: So is that door now closed?

COLLINS: Yes.

GANGEL: Last question. As far as we know, Donald Trump has not said anything directly about you, but he did tweet the following this morning that I want to read to you. He said, "I am running against the Washington insiders, just like I did in the Republican primaries. These are the people that have made U.S. a mess!," exclamation point, end quote. That came out after your announcement. You have any response? COLLINS: Well, I certainly expected a negative reaction from Donald

Trump. That doesn't surprise me. And I'm waiting to see what name he eventually calls me. But maybe he's being held up - held back by his advisors. But I'm doing what I think is right. I have very deep roots in the state of Maine and come home every weekend. I don't think people in Maine view me as someone who has lost touch and I certainly haven't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How about that?

Jamie Gangel with us now.

And so, you know, we were just charting, as we were listening to her, do you think if Maine were truly in play, if it really were a battleground state, do you think she would vote for her?

[14:10:05] GANGEL: I don't want to speak for her, but she has the luxury of not having to do that because Maine isn't in play.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GANGEL: You heard how strongly she feels about a -

BALDWIN: It's on character it sounded like to me.

GANGEL: About Donald Trump. So if it was one vote and it was a battleground state, maybe she would have a different answer on that.

BALDWIN: But how she said - and we've talked before on these other, you know, Republicans who are saying no to Trump, some of whom are voting for Clinton, she's obviously not - not yet - she said she might write in. Did she say who she would write in?

GANGEL: She didn't say. But if I had to take a guess who would be on the list of possible write-ins, her first person that she endorsed was Jeb Bush.

BALDWIN: Huh.

GANGEL: So I wouldn't be surprised if that was someone at least on her short list for writing in. But I think what she's hoping, Brooke, is that by coming out publicly now -

BALDWIN: Yes.

GANGEL: That she creates a safe space -

BALDWIN: For others.

GANGEL: For others to follow her.

BALDWIN: You have talked to so many and the question is, how much influence will they have on then others after them.

GANGEL: Right.

BALDWIN: Jamie Gangel, thank you so much.

GANGEL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Make sure you go to cnn.com for that entire interview with Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Coming up next, it is a Trump pattern. He floats a baseless theory or a controversial idea, but he prefaces it - easy for me to say - prefaces it with, quote, "many people are saying." Find out the new one he just dropped.

Plus, Hillary Clinton calling on Congress to return from vacation immediately. Hear why.

And, any moment now, both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will be speaking on the campaign trail. Here he is, Rudy Giuliani, speaking ahead of Mr. Trump in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Lots to get to on this Tuesday afternoon. We'll be right back.

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[14:15:45] BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

In just a couple of minutes, we will be seeing the latest war of words between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both are expected to speak shortly.

In the meantime, though, I want to take a look at one tact that Trump has made a habit of taking. He repeats a story that is definitely shaky on facts and attributes it to - to "people say," or "many people are saying." Here's the latest example and here's the tweet. Quote, "many people are saying that the Iranians killed the scientist who helped the U.S. because of Hillary Clinton's hacked e-mails," end quote.

The back story here, Trump is speaking of Shahram Amiri, who was just execution for allegedly sharing Iran's nuclear secrets with the enemy. The State Department says there is absolutely no connection between Hillary Clinton's e-mails and his execution. State officials also point out that Amirir's name has already been made public back in 2010 and the Clinton e-mails that mentioned his name were not classified.

But the Internet, leave to the Internet here, they have definitely picked up on Trump's attribution and hashtag here of "many people are saying" has come to life.

So let me turn to CNN political commentators John Phillips, a Trump supporter, and Angela Rye, who used to serve as executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus.

So, welcome to both of you.

ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Brooke. JOHN PHILLIPS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

BALDWIN: Good morning. Good afternoon.

John Phillips, let me just begin with you. You know, with this whole couching it "people are saying," "many people are saying," why does he do that? I mean is that responsible?

PHILLIPS: Look, any time you get into the word on the street argument, you go off message. We're looking for the leader of the free world, we're not looking for a town crier. And I thought Trump was best yesterday when he was on message. He was focused. He gave his economic speech in Detroit. And not only did he touch on the public -

BALDWIN: He was on teleprompter, so he wasn't ad-libbing -

RYE: Yes.

BALDWIN: And saying, "many people are saying."

RYE: That's right.

BALDWIN: You liked him on message, yes?

PHILLIPS: Hence the fact he stayed away from "word on the street." But he hit on traditional Republican themes and he also showed why he's different from the previous nominees that lost not only the general election but in the rust belt. He talked about tax cuts, but he also came out against TPP, which many people in the rust belt, many people in that region of the country, think destroyed their economy. He's not one of these Republicans that wants to come in with -

BALDWIN: OK, so let me - I hear you.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

BALDWIN: On the issues, you're saying props to him. He hit on it. He was detailed.

So why, John, I promise, I'm going to leave you in a second, but why does he keep doing this?

PHILLIPS: Look, he's got turret's syndrome sometimes when he's on Twitter. This is part of the intervention is to make sure that he has a much slower speed on the connection and he's much less inclined to do these sorts of things. He's a nontraditional candidate. He hasn't gone through the state legislature in Congress where he's learned to mute these sorts of things. He's an outsider that's coming in and he has outsider tendencies and he's got to learn to mute it sometimes.

BALDWIN: I have lists from "The Washington Post," and not just on Twitter, but June, after the Orlando shooting, September, talking about Muslims, on the Iran nuclear deal, on Ted Cruz's citizenship and the fact that he was born in Canada. These are all things he has said out loud.

Angela, you want to weigh in?

RYE: Absolutely. So #manyare -- #manypeoplearesaying, he's unfit and unqualified and he's given you yet another example for why. Now I agree with everything that John said up until he got to turret's syndrome. For all the people out there who have that, Donald Trump does not have that. He's got something completely different. It's called, "he's just uncontrollable," unless, to Brooke's point earlier, he's on teleprompter. So Donald Trump was not on his message, he was on the message of the staff who wrote this speech yesterday. If he is not reading the words of someone else, then he is off the cuff, he is irresponsible and he is reckless. He has demonstrated all the reasons why there were 50 people who signed on to a letter, many of them well- respected. I did not agree with a lot of the policy decisions that they were responsible for when they served in several of the Republican cabinets, but the issue that we have here is someone who is constantly demonstrating why there is a bipartisan effort for never Trump. Donald Trump cannot be the commander in chief because he lacks the ability, the know-how and the respectability to manage being in the Oval Office.

BALDWIN: Well, let me move on to a conversation I just had with Jamie Gangel. And, listen, there is no denying the fact that Donald Trump has millions and millions of fans in the United States who went out in record numbers to vote for him, you know, in the primaries.

RYE: Sure.

[14:20:10] BALDWIN: But now, John, when we're talking about these big name Republicans, you know, hugely respected senator in Maine, you know, Susan Collins, who has said - she's not said she's voting for her, she said she's not voting for Trump. You know, we heard today about the Florida Republican spokesman who is Hispanic, Wadi Gaitan, who is bowing out of his position. My question to you is, you know, how many high-profile defections can a campaign really take?

PHILLIPS: Look, there will probably be more. Susan Collins won't be alone. And I think they're doing it for two main reasons. One, it was a rough and tumble primary where harsh words were said. Harsh words were said towards John McCain, who Susan Collins has a long time friendship with. Harsh words were said towards Jeb Bush, who she endorsed. Two previous Republican president, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and sometimes hard feelings, hurt feelings last a long time. I think that's a huge part of it.

The other thing is, he had a bad week last week and she watched Donald Trump last week kind of get involved in all of these different conflicts with all of these different people and I think that hurt his credibility. That's why what he did yesterday is so important -

BALDWIN: So how does he stop the bleeding?

PHILLIPS: And why staying on script and staying on message is the only way for him to repair these relationships with these establishment figures in Washington, D.C.

BALDWIN: OK, Angela, let me pivot to you. We were reporting about 24 hours ago about this letter, about 50 Republican, you know, foreign policy national security experts, including, and I think you mentioned this a moment ago, but many who worked for former President George W. Bush. You know, they signed this letter denouncing Trump and refusing to vote for him. But if you read Trump's response, it's a couple of paragraphs. Let me just read part of the middle graph. This is his rebuttal to that. "These insiders, along with Hillary Clinton, are the owners of the disastrous decisions to invade Iraq, allow Americans to die in Benghazi, and they are the ones who allowed the rise of ISIS."

So, Angela Rye, my question to you is, does Donald Trump have a point? I mean this is when people look at some of what he says and they say, he's right.

RYE: No, I think that you can absolutely say that there are people - and I said this earlier - there are people who signed on to the letter that I don't agree with. I was on the committee on homeland security on the House side when Secretary Chertoff was over at the Department of Homeland Security. I didn't agree with the orange, red, yellow levels and all of that. But that doesn't mean that these folks haven't laid partisanship aside and said, for the sake of the reputation of America's global reputation, we cannot have this man as our commander in chief. He is scaring people who have been responsible for foreign policy, for our national security policy. There was even someone who worked in the Commerce Department sign on to this letter. Trade - former trade representatives.

So that is something that should give Republicans pause. Not folks who are part of the establishment, but Republican voters rite large. This is something that says, you know what, this is a serious flag. These people don't have a dog in this fight. They're not running surrogate for a particular campaign that lost. They're anti-political - or apolitical for the most part. They have decided that it was worth sacrificing their reputations to say, enough is enough, this is not partisanship, this is about American - being an American and doing our patriotic duty, which is to tell the truth.

BALDWIN: Well, I should point out, it was no - this letter is certainly no endorsement of Hillary Clinton.

RYE: That's right.

BALDWIN: But these are - these are a number of Republicans who are refusing to vote for Donald Trump.

RYE: They say that. That's right.

BALDWIN: I just wanted to say it for everyone else.

John Phillips, Angela Rye, thank you so much.

RYE: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll do this again.

PHILLIPS: Thank you. BALDWIN: Meantime, Donald Trump, he is speaking - you're welcome - any moment now. Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York, speaking, helping tee up the main speaker there in Wilmington, Mr. Trump. We'll take it live momentarily.

But, you know, how will he respond to these Republicans who are coming out against him? We'll be listening for that, coming up.

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[14:28:29] BALDWIN: All right, we're back. We're about to go and listen in to Donald Trump there speaking in Wilmington, North Carolina. Just keep in mind, part of what we're listening for, we just heard today, Senator Susan Collins, Republican, Maine, will not be voting for Donald Trump. So that's yet another defector. Will he respond to that? Let's listen.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: One of the most important elections for a lot of reasons, not just that, but for a lot of reasons. And - but that's so obvious because for whatever reason they say this could be the presidency. This next four years where you'll pick more Supreme Court justices than anybody has ever had the opportunity to do. And, believe me, I'll make you very proud of those justices. They'll be good. OK?

So we had an incident a few days ago with the $400 million, all cash, right? $400 million all cash. Anybody know what that looks like? That's a lot of cash. That's a lot of cash. And, honestly, it's so sad. Think of it. Going to Iran, a terror state.

[14:29:37] Now, I happen to think they have plenty of money. They've got - we've given them $150 billion. So the $400 million is just, you know. I happen to think it goes into their accounts in Switzerland personally. Now, a lot of people say, no, no, it's used for terror, and they use it for terror, because it's the number one terror funder. Not even close. But I also think that when you have $400 million in cash, different denominations, you see the size of this? They did, I guess, release the pictures after all. They released pictures. And interesting, I'll tell you