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Will Trump Release his Taxes?; Protests Turn Violent in Milwaukee; Trump Steps Up Attacks on "Dishonest Media"; Congress to View FBI Notes on Clinton Interview; Mayor of Milwaukee Speaks to Press. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 14, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00] CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now supporting (ph) number here, the IRS has said an audit does not prevent anyone from releasing their returns. In fact, other politicians have released their returns during an audit. And Trump himself has that his taxes between '02 and '08 are no longer being audited if he's refused to release even those returns.

Now, Pence said he'll release his returns before the election. And that announcement came a day after Clinton released her most recent tax returns and her running mate, Tim Kaine released a decades worth of tax records. Clinton campaign has tried to use the issue to their advantage by arguing that Trump's transparency lacks and his lack of transparency means voters can't trust him about his claims about how money he's made, how much he's given to charity or how much he's paid in taxes. But during his interview yesterday, Fred, Pence tried to turn the tables on Clinton and use Clinton's transparency against her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE, (R-IN) VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: What you have in the Clinton is Clinton is an extremely prosperous family that's made tens of millions of dollars related to, and derivative of, their time in and around public service. And the American people now know that clearly from that release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So by the looks of it, Fred, this is not a fight, the fight over taxes that's going to go away any time soon.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris Frates, appreciate that. Much more in the NEWSROOM right now.

Hello, again, and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Wisconsin's governor activates the National Guard as Milwaukee officials appeal for calm after a night of looting and fires, protesters burning several buildings and also throwing rocks at police. One officer was injured. All of this, following the fatal shooting of an armed man by police.

A Milwaukee resident spoke to local reporters about the shock of the unrest. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never thought I would see my own city in a state of unrest to potential riot. You know, I just never thought I would see it. We're standing here speaking with you, just heard gunshots maybe two to three blocks away. I feel maybe the bulk of the large incidents are over for the evening, but I definitely do not feel that this is over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN National Correspondent, Ryan Young, is live for us in Milwaukee. So, Ryan, what more are you hearing about the direction of this investigation?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, first of all, this is a tough conversation because people are a little worried about the National Guard showing up because they think they can make it worse this evening. That's a conversation that's happening out all around us. So people are worried that they'll come in and people will get blamed for that. If you look behind us, you'll see some of the stuff has been burned down from what happened last night.

I have no weapon, man.

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to try and get back to Ryan Young's reporting from Milwaukee momentarily when we can.

All right, meantime, police are investigating a string of violent attacks on officers in New York and Georgia this begin. We begin in Central Georgia where police are searching Royheem Deeds who they claimed shot and killed Officer Tim Smith. Officer Smith was responding to a call of a suspicious person when he was shot after coming upon the subject and getting out his car. Officer Smith is survived by three children, a stepson and a fiancee.

And the officer who was shot in Marietta, Georgia outside of Atlanta has been identified is Scott Davis and he is expected to survive. He and two other officers are responding to a car break-in when one of two suspects open fire. Officers wounded, one suspect, two is expected to survive.

And then in Long Island, New York, an officer is recovering from surgery after being stabbed in the face by responding to a 911 call. Police say the suspect, Mark Caraway, was armed with knives when he slashed the officer. Another officer shot the suspect who is in critical condition.

All right, I want to get some other breaking news in right now. The Louisiana governor has postponed his previously scheduled flood trip and will hold a closed door briefing today at 5:00 Eastern time. This comes on the heels of the catastrophic flooding in Louisiana. Three people have now died. A fourth person is unaccounted for and more than 7000 people have been rescued from the rising floodwaters. Another two to four inches of rainfall is expected in the Baton Rouge area today. Governor John Bel Edwards has requested help from FEMA and has declared a state of emergency.

CNN Correspondent, Boris Sanchez, is covering this story for us from Louisiana. So, Boris, what more can you tell us about this closed-door briefing?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what can we expect from Governor John Bel Edwards, Fred, is a message that this is definitely not over.

[15:05:06] Though rain has stopped falling in most of Louisiana, there's still a lot of danger out there and a lot of floodwaters, a lot of areas that are flooded, the water is still rising and the reason why is because the water is moving. So many of the areas that were flooded were because of bodies of water, lakes, rivers and tributaries that overflowed. As a matter of fact, we're getting close to an area called Bayou Manchac where there wasn't much rain, and I spoke to a woman who lived there that said that even as of last night, they only had gotten a few inches of rain.

But by early this morning, her home had about a foot of water because she lives basically in front of marsh and the water that came in from different parts of the state just overflowed into her neighborhood submerging it. Where we're standing, the rain has actually begun to fall again. So this is still a very dangerous situation. They're expecting that bayou that essentially took over a neighborhood could go up by at least another foot before it's all said and done.

From what we understand, there are more than 15,000 people still without power, about a hundred roads and highways are still shut down and we're getting confirmation that rescues are still ongoing. More than 7000 rescues have taken place across the state. It's really a staggering number when you consider that there were only three fatalities and that so many of these areas got hit by very quick flash flooding with very little advanced notice for these communities. So we've seen at lot of, as I mentioned before, rescues, many of them are volunteers, people coming from different parts of the state to the evacuated areas to bring in their own boats so that they can help those that need it most, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And, Boris, among those rescues, what you're talking, again, you can't keep your eyes off that extraordinary video of, you described earlier, volunteers who came upon that red convertible that was submerged in the water. They tore open the top and they pulled out a woman alive. She was gasping. She apparently said her dog was in the car. They got her dog out as well. Extraordinary images there and these are the kind of rescues that are taking place, and really out of the goodness of the hearts of the volunteers there. And of course, lot of the emergency, you know, first responders who are also being put to task on this while they try to rescue and help out as many people they can. Extraordinary images there. Boris Sanchez, thank you so much.

All right, I want to bring back now out of Milwaukee, there's Ryan Young again. Ryan, talk to us more about what has transpired there as results of the police-involve shooting, and then the burning of buildings including what was once that BP Gas station where you are and how many people there are just simply looking for answers and there's a lot of frustration being aired out.

YOUNG: Absolutely a lot of frustration, I can tell you. Fred, we were standing next to each other in Baltimore and some of this is reminiscent of that because people are walking up to us just with anger in their hearts. They are saying this young man did not have a gun and they don't believe the police's narratives. So that is the point that's' going on.

They believe this flashpoint right here started because the police said that young man had a gun and they are absolutely denying the fact that he had a gun. Officers said they try to stop a car, two men started running and that all of the sudden, they try to catch up with one of the men who had a gun. He didn't put the gun down, two shots were fired, once in the chest and once in the arm.

From that led to this. And you can see everything that's happened here. Police officers still remain unseen. There are dozens and dozens of people who are just hanging around and they actually believe tonight could be worst because hearing that the National Guard could be on their way has only enflamed people even more. They are talking about going back and taking to the streets once again. We've also been told the businesses that were affected last night, that were burned down, were targeted because of their treatment to black people in the community. That's something that people have been talking about here. So the next few hours, they're going to be watching and waiting once again, Fred.

WHITFIELD: A very tenuous situation. All right, thank you very much, Ryan Young. I appreciate your reporting on that.

All right, coming up, behind the curtain of the Trump campaign. "The New York Times" reporting that staffers don't have a handle on the candidate. We'll discuss with a Trump spotter and a former Reagan Adviser after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:24]

WHITFIELD: All right, Donald Trump stepping up his attacks on the media while campaigning in the deep blue state of Connecticut last night, Trump going after what he often calls the dishonest media. The Republican candidate aiming most of his rage at "The New York Times" threatening to pull the newspaper's credentials and firing back at the newest reports in the Times today, painting a rather unsavory picture of the campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: They wrote a story today, anonymous sources have said, three anonymous sources, anonymous this, anonymous that, they don't use names, I don't think they have any names, OK, but anonymous sources have said -- there are no anonymous. You know, with my campaign, I'll be honest with you, it's me. It's me. They never called me. They don't call me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, Trump is talking about an article in "The New York Times" today titled "Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Trump's Tongue". The Times reporters quoting anonymous sources close to the campaign described Trump as, "exhausted, frustrated and still bewildered by fine points of the political process and why his incendiary approach seems to be sputtering." This morning, Trump's campaign manager, Paul Manafort, spoke to CNN's Jake Tapper and disputed the Times article. Manafort stood by Trump's stance that the media is bias against him. And despite reports of rattled campaign advisors, Manafort maintained all is well within the Trump campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL MANAFORT, TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Contrary to your report and contrary to "The New York Times'" nameless sources' story, the campaign is moving forward and is very strong. We raised over $132 million in the last two months. We are organized in all 50 states, all 50 states. We've been in the battleground states everyday this month including Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida multiple times this month, and we're starting to get traction in those states.

So we are convinced that contrary to the stories of the "The New York Times" which are not correct and contrary to the lead-in to this interview of Trump Unplugged, that Trump plug in. He's very connected and you're seeing crowds attending these appearances that are end of October numbers, not August numbers. In august, look at the crowds Hillary Clinton is getting, she's appearing before 30, 40, 100 people. He's appearing before 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people. That shows you the campaign is working in contrary to what the media is saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:15:01] WHITFIELD: All right, joining me now is Donald Trump's supporter and economic adviser to Donald Trump, Andy Puzder. Also with me is economist, Art Laffer, who is a former economic adviser to Ronald Reagan. Good to see both of you.

All right, so, Andy, let me begin with you. You've been an adviser to Mitt Romney and now to Donald Trump. So, is Trump's campaign style working? Is everything in control as we heard from Paul Manafort?

ANDY PUZDER, FORMER ROMNEY ECONOMIC ADVISER: I don't know if everything's ever in control in a political campaign. But I will say, over the past week while there has been really a media barrage against Donald Trump, their -- he's also -- you've also seen a narrowing in the past week in the polls. And the RealClearPolitics average is narrowed by a percent. So even -- no, he's even withstood this kind of media barrage with this comments over the past week. So, I think in some census, it is working. I'd be the last person in the world to get political advice to Donald Trump. I think if I had been advising in the primary campaign, he probably would have lost because he did thinks I'd never thought would be winning thing, so it's going to very good for him.

WHITFIELD: So, Andy, is it a media barrage or is it simply he says stuff, it's reportable, it's on record and everyone picks up on it meaning media, news outlets pick up on it because it becomes newsworthy to who he is and what kind of president he would be?

PUZDER: You know, I'll tell you, I would have liked to have seen more media coverage this week on Donald Trump's economic plan which is pro- growth versus Hillary Clinton which is tax and spend. I'd like seeing that coverage but I ...

WHITFIELD: But then he shouldn't have said the founders of ISIS is Obama and Clinton.

PUZDER: But I flip between the channels and what -- I'll tell you what, if I see another left-wing host berating a berating a Trump surrogate for being unwilling to adopt the Clinton interpretation of something that Donald Trump said, I'm just going to stop watching all together. And I think that maybe why the polls narrowed. I think the American people are tired of hearing everything Donald Trump says parsed. They want to hear how is going -- who's going to create jobs and careers, who's going to cause wages to go up, who's going to create paths to the middle class, who's going to reduce and equality. When we start talking about those things, I think the campaigns are going to get focused.

Right now, its' very, very difficult to cut through with the message and Donald Trump isn't helping with these comments on the one hand. On the other hand, he doesn't dictate what people cover. And if the news media would cover substance over semantics, I think it would be a much closer race and the American people would be paying a lot more attention.

WHITFIELD: So, Art, how do you see it? I mean, is it Trump versus the media, or is it trump versus trump?

ANDY LAFFER, FOUNDER, LAFFER Associates: Well, no, I don't see it either way, Fred. To be honest with you, I love Andy Puzder. He's a great friend and I enjoy your show. I'm an economist and frankly we tax people who speed to get to stop speeding. We tax smokers to get them to stop smoking. Why on Earth would we want to raise taxes on people with income? Why would we want to raise taxes on people who create jobs? Why would we want to raise taxes on companies that make great products at low cost, especially given the state of our economy? We need economic growth. And for that reason, I like Trump's plan a lot better than I do Hillary Clinton's plan although I supported her husband when he was in office and I supported him in two presidential races. But he's not Hillary Clinton. And her plan is just not going to work and I think Trump's plan really would create the prosperity we need.

WHITFIELD: So then, Andy, how does Donald Trump stay on message, how does his campaign help him stay on message so that, as you put it, there wouldn't be this, you know, barrage of media coverage on his missteps?

PUZDER: Well, just like my buddy Art just did, you take whatever the question is and you come right back to that economic plan. It is that Donald Trump has a great economic plan. He should be talking about it no matter what the question is, no matter where he is, no matter who he's speaking to, he should be focused on the economy, the economy, the economy. If he wants to talk about a Clinton corruption scandal or something she said was untrue, that's fine but focus on the economy. Stick with the message Art just delivered. It's perfect.

WHITFIELD: But if you believe, you know, that "The New York Times" which says his camp is trying to make him do that but then decides -- you know, he kind of makes a left turn when they're asking him to go straight or, you know, take a right turn. I mean, how does the campaign control its candidate if the candidate himself is already on record of saying, "I did better on my own, you know, during the primary season when I was just doing things my way?"

PUZDER: He is a very authentic candidate. Look, you're not going to be able to completely control Donald Trump. He has a mind of his own. He's not a politician. He's not a traditional politician. He goes out there and he talks. And you're talking all of these hours everyday, eventually you're going to say something that can be parsed into an unfavorable comment. But I think if he keeps his focus on the economy, he's got a very good chance of winning this election. And I'm hopeful that's what he's going do.

WHITFIELD: So Art, you know, inside three months before election and we're having this kind of conversation about a candidate who seemed, you know, to be running away with it for a while and now look at the poll numbers and he's dipping quite a bit and their conversations internally and externally about whether his campaign can control, you know, the candidate.

[15:20:15] What if anything do you see either Donald Trump would have to do or his campaign have to do to try to right the ship, you know, right the ship?

LAFFER: You know, if the -- yeah. Well, it's the people's government here, if I can, Fred, and people deserve the governments they get. And here are the messages, here are the policies, if you want to chase these other things, that's fine. It's your country too. But for me, I want prosperity and economic prosperity. I'm a James Carville guy. Remember when James Carville said, "It's the economy, stupid." Well, that's it. And it is that. And this is the type of election that should be on economics. And if people don't see it that way, God bless them, it's their country too. I'm going to vote away. I want to vote.

But if we all have to live with the consequences of our votes and if you think the consequences are better with Hillary, goodness gracious go for it. I think the lower tax rates, ala Kennedy, ala Reagan and ala Bill Clinton would be much better than high raising taxes and giving freebies to people who already have so many freebies. But that's your choice and that's the voter's choice and I hope as an economist, I can just lay those issues out for people to vote Democrat or Republic. And then by the way, I've been on both sides. And the issue is really economics. It's the partisanship, it's not who said this or that, it's the economy.

WHITFIELD: All right, it's the economy, stupid. All right ... LAFFER: Well, that's James Carville now.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah, thank you, James Carville. OK.

PUZDER: You're absolutely right.

WHITFIELD: Art Laffer ...

LAFFER: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: ... Andy Puzder, thank you so much. I appreciate it, gentleman.

LAFFER: Thanks, Andy.

PUZDER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. As soon as tomorrow, members of the U.S. Congress will have in their hands the notes from Hillary Clinton's interview with the FBI. What that can tell us with just now 86 days until the election, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:40] WHITFIELD: All right, members of Congress will soon learn what Hillary Clinton had to say to the FBI about her private e-mail server. CNN's Jake Tapper has learned that as early as tomorrow, the notes that an FBI agent took during the three-hour interview will be made available. It's important to know that these are not full transcripts and Clinton was not under oath at the time. Republican lawmakers requested the notes after the FBI Director James Comey's testimony earlier this summer.

Another controversial issue dogging Hillary Clinton, the connection between one of her former top aides at the U.S. State Department and the Clinton Foundation. CNN's senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin has more.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: On June 19th, 2012, Cheryl Mills, then the chief of staff for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton boarded an Amtrak Acela train in Washington's Union Station bound for New York. For the last seven months, senate investigators have been trying to find out what Mills was up to. And for seven months, the U.S. Department of State has refused to answer.

Now, CNN has learned a potential reason why. Cheryl Mills, then a U.S. government employee and Secretary of State, Clinton's Chief of Staff was in New York working on behalf of the Clinton Foundation. A source close to the situation confirms to CNN, Mills was interviewing two potential candidates to lead the Clinton Foundation. Mills would interview top-level executives at Walmart and the drug company Pfizer. Both companies, huge donors to the Clinton Foundation and both had worked with the Clinton Global Initiative.

Was Mills' role in violation of government ethics rules? Did she have permission from the U.S. Department of State? Did state even know the trip was taking place? CNN has asked the U.S. State department all of these questions, this was the response, "Federal employees are permitted to engage in outside personal activities within the scope of the Federal Ethics Rules." A state spokesperson tells CNN, "All federal employees are subject to federal ethics laws and regulations, including rules pertaining to conflicts of interest." The vague response raises more questions that are just not being answered. Not to CNN, but worse as watchdog group, not to Republican-led senate judiciary committee which has the right to know.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT AMEY, PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT: Congress has a rightful right to ask for any information that it wants to from the executive branch of government to keep track of them and the government should be turning that information over. And when you have a breakdown in that system, we have a breakdown in our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: It's easy to understand why Cheryl Mills was trusted with helping find the next director of the Clinton Foundation. The relationships with the Clintons goes back decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL MILLS, COUNSELOR OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE: I'm honored to be here today on behalf of the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: As Bill Clinton's Deputy White House Council, she defended the then-president during impeachment proceedings. In 2008, when Hillary Clinton was running for president, Mills was her senior legal campaign adviser. And when Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State, Mills left the board of the Clinton Foundation and became Hillary Clinton's Chief of Staff.

The secrecy about the New York trip, the dual roles played by trusted assistant, the mixing of business between state, Clinton Foundation and its donors all play into a central theme of Donald Trump's campaign that politicians like the Clintons use government to benefit themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: These are crooked people. They've been crooked from the beginning. You look at that foundation, it's pure theft and pure crookedness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Cheryl Mills' attorney said her client was simply doing volunteer work for a charitable foundation. She was not paid. The Clinton Foundation also said Mills was not a paid employee. Late today, Clinton campaign spokesman, Ryan Fallon sent this statement, "Cheryl volunteered her personal time to a chartable organization as she has to other charities. Cheryl paid for her travel to New York personally and it was crystal clear to all involved that this had nothing to do with her official duties. The idea that poses a conflict of interest is absurd." Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: And right now, we're awaiting a news conference held by the Milwaukee Police Department where they're set to give us an update on the violent protests that erupted overnight following the shooting of an armed suspect by police.

[15:30:06] We will take you there live when it begins. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're waiting a news conference held by the Milwaukee Police Department where they're set to give us an update on the violent protests that erupted overnight following the shooting of what police say was an armed suspect. We will take you there live as it happens.

At the meantime, Donald Trump escalating his war with the media, launching fresh attacks this weekend, blasting stories like this one in today's "New York Times" detailing unrest within the campaign. The "Times" reporting the campaign's effort to "save Trump from himself has plainly failed".

Trump tweeting, it is "dishonest" and even blaming the media for his sagging poll numbers. He tweeted this morning, "If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false mean into words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20 percent." All right. That follows comments he made at two rallies this weekend where he painted reporters as his other opponent in this election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Did I say that? I say it all the time. So they knew I was being sarcastic. But now they're analyzing. Did I really mean that? How could I say that? These people are the lowest form of life. I'm telling you. They are the lowest form of humanity, not all of them, they have about 25 percent that are pretty good, but most of them.

I'm not running against crooked Hillary Clinton. I'm running against the crooked media. That's what I'm running against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining right now is Donald Trump supporter and Economic Adviser for Donald Trump, Andy Puzder and Former Communications Director for the Jeb Bush Presidential Campaign, Tim Miller, and host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter.

[15:35:09] All right. Good to see all of you, gentlemen. So, Andy, you first. If you look at Trump's Twitter page, he's gone on a tweet storm against the media over the last 24 hours in particular. Do you think attacking the media is his best course of action right now? Why is he doing this? PUZDER: well, again, you know, I'm not going to give Donald Trump political advice because he's done pretty well without my political advice up until now. But, you know, the media is an easy target because I think there's -- a lot of Trump supporter are distrustful the media. They feel there's media bias. Donald Trump certainly feels that the media is bias and I think there's probably some justification for that. I think the media tries to be fair, but I think they -- there're, you know, people in the media are just people. They come into these things with different opinions and different approaches and they hear things differently than people who believe perhaps more conservatively than they believe.

So, I think media is trying to be fair, but I can also understand why Donald Trump feels this way.

WHITFIELD: I think also that for a very long time that inviting the media in his world and to his campaign -- I think for a very long time that inviting the media into his world and to his campaign. I mean, even using it as mileage and leverage to help get as much attention as possible.

PUZDER: Yeah, he's been very good at using the media to get attention particularly during the primary. I'd say in this cycle there seems to be real support for Hillary Clinton in the media. And I think he feels that there's -- that kind. So, I think even Chris Cuomo on your station stated at point that the media was doing all they could to help Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

PUZDER: So, I think the media tries to be fair. I'm not being critical of you, I'm not being critical with CNN. I think CNN does a great job. It's a station that I watch.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

PUZDER: I do think that he believes that they're being prejudiced against him and, you know, if you look at some of the coverage, you might fell that was true.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Tim, is it the media versus Trump or is it Trump versus Trump?

TIM MILLER, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, JEB BUSH PRES. CAMPAIGN: Look, I think Andy is doing a valiant job trying to defend Donald Trump. But, you know, the reality here is he comes off a whiner. He's just -- he's whining like a little child because of his own mistakes. And this is the thing and it's always in "The New York Times" story, what happens during the presidential campaign is it takes an emotional toll on you when the polls are starting to go down? I've been on some loosing campaigns. And you need a candidate that has a level head and that has the dignity to go out and run an honorable campaign every day even in the face of the bad news. And Donald Trump doesn't have that temperament. He just doesn't.

He's whiner. He's a complainer. He has notoriously thin-skinned. And, that showing now on the campaign trail and by the way, that's why people are rejecting him because that's horrible traits to have in president of the United States. You just imagine the Twitter ramps he's gone as president and it's concerning honestly, because there are a lot of serious things you have to deal with.

WHITFIELD: And, Brian, you know, you spoke to Trump Campaign Spokesperson Jason Miller about that "New York Times'" piece today and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": So, you're selling doubt about the sources, you know, Donald Trump on Twitter said these sources were non-existent. Do you have any evidence of the "Times'" manufactured sources?

JASON MILLER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPOKESPERSON: Brian, that's why now I'm a legit (ph). What I'm saying is that ...

STELTER: Why did he say they were nonexistent? I thought that to be offensive.

MILLER: Well, clearly some reporter. And I'm not going to go after reporters by name or try to make this thing personal. But clearly someone is writing down and believing that they're talking to someone, but the fact of the matter is these meetings didn't happen. The entire description of this is garbage. And we're going to push back and we're not going to stand for it. And you asked if we're going to have a retraction, I mean, look, I would ask people to cancel their subscriptions to "The New York Times" and just not give the paper anymore credence if they're going to pull nonsense like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Brian, trying to discredit, you're former employer, "The New York Times". Why did the Trump campaign feel like it is put in this position of doing this? Is this a strategy?

STELTER: I disagree with Tim. I don't think Donald Trump in oval office will be going on tweet storms. But I do think we're going to presumably ...

MILLER: Why?

STELTER: ... see a candidate go nuclear against the media. And every minute he spends talking about the media, every minute he tweets about CNN or "The New York Times" is a minute he's not talking about Hillary Clinton. That's why this is so baffling. I have no doubt he believes there's media bias against him. And he has every right to say that. But journalists also have every right and a responsibility to keep challenging the campaign and every other campaign.

You know, Brian, I thought you interviewed Katrina Pierson who was very revealing an hour ago, was very helpful to see her on the air in depth trying to answer your question or maybe sometimes avoiding answering your questions. This is our job. And I think in this moment, where Donald Trump is challenging the very legitimacy of what we do, we've got to keep doing it to stronger than ever. You know, the response to criticism is to keep doing it and keep trying to be as fair as possible. You need to hear his complaints, but try to be as fair as we can.

[15:40:01] WHITFIELD: Right. And so, Tim, for a very long time, it was Donald Trump who was really trying to upstage everybody, right? That was the strategy. He seemed to enjoy it. And now there's criticism that his gaps or missteps or, you know, semantic is upstaging other news that may have put Hillary Clinton, you know, on the upper tier on some of the coverage and even after a week that wasn't so glowing for her as well.

MILLER: Yeah, and that's why his whining about this is so ridiculous. I mean Donald Trump is a creature of the media. His whole career has been a media phenomenal. And he's good at playing the media, by the way.

So, right now, this is a strategy. And frankly, I don't know why Brian and Trump supporters would give him the benefit of the doubt. He's been saying like half year now that he's going to start being more presidential that, you know, he'll be so presidential. Your head is going to spin. And he can't do it. He's incapable. He has no self-control. And this is a very disturbing trait for so many that wants to be president of United States, having no self-control.

And just one thing, the tweet that he sent this morning other these long tweets, so the one thing that was the most disturbing was when he said that it's not freedom of the press for the press to be able to say whatever they want.

You know, this man does not have any respect for the constitution and all of the troublesome things that he said, that is maybe some of the most disturbing. It sounds like, you know, a Latin-America dictator's view of what the press is, not what a republican constitutional as president of the United States candidate should be saying.

WHITFIELD: And I recall it being, "I'm going to be so presidential, you're going to be sick of it."

So, Andy, you know, this is not a very flattering view of someone that you have been supporting.

PUZDER: I think Brian's point was actually really good. I think we really need to focus the campaign. This is a very fertile field with Hillary Clinton as the opposition. We need to focus on the economy, as I said in the earlier interview. We need economy, economy, economy, and stop getting off on these tangents. You know, you can tell he's upset about this. You can tell he takes it personally. As I said, he's a very authentic candidate. You're going to hear what he has to say. But he's focused on the economy. If he would focus on the issues or if can really drive home a message to the American people who want to hear about careers and jobs and paths to the middle class, I think he can win this election. But he's got to be focused on those issues. And focusing on the press, you know, again, I'm not going to give him political advice because that's not what I would do.

WHITFILED: So, Andy, you know, heard a member of his campaign, you know, saying these anonymous sources are likely nonexistent but can you envision Donald Trump as someone who would want to, you know, take the advice of which direction, you know to go, or do you see it impossible as the "New York Times", you know, conveys that he would have this kind of meltdowns when things don't go his way?

PUZDER: I think Donald Trump -- look, Donald Trump is a CEO. And CEO is listening to what other people say.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm sorry, I asked you a question, Andy, I now have to interrupt you, I apologize for that.

PUZDER: It's OK.

WHITFIELD: We have to take this straight to Milwaukee to the police department there for this press conference now under way as a result of a police-involve shooting and then looting and burning of buildings last night.

TOM BARRETT, (D) MILWAUKEE MAYOR: We've been challenged in a way that we have not been challenged in years. But in a sense we have also responded. This morning, I was in the Sherman Park neighborhood. And I saw dozens if not hundreds of volunteers, people from churches, from the community, from the neighborhood, who were there to clean up after last night. These are people -- good people who live in this community, who care about this community and want this to be a safe community, a clean community a community where they can raise their families. These are the people that we are all concerned about. These are people, good people, who live in this community who care about this community and want this to be a safe community, a clean community, community where they can raise their families.

These are the people that we are all concerned about, the people who live in this neighborhood, who deserve to have a safe neighborhood.

Ironically, that is the reason that the officers were in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon, to preserve the safety of this neighborhood, to make sure that families could play and individuals could use the streets.

So, I want to begin by thanking all the volunteers, all the residents, all the churches that came out this morning. They recognized that this is a community effort. And to make this a safer community, the individuals need to be involved.

I spoke to many people this morning including a conversation I had with Governor Walker. Governor Walker and I have had our political differences over the years, but we talked about what happened here, about what happened in Missouri, about what happened in Maryland. And this is the decision that we ha reached together, the National Guard will be activated but it will not be deployed unless Chief Flynn decides to deploy it. [15:45:15] 125 members of the National Guard are on their way to Milwaukee as we speak. And again, they'll be deployed if Chief Flynn believes that that is necessary. I'm hope that that will not be necessary. The calm will remain in this community and that we will not have to deploy those individuals. But if it is necessary, we will do so.

I also want to take a minute and talk about the incident that precipitated what we saw last night, specifically the officer-involved shooting that occurred yesterday afternoon. As I said last night at midnight, I received a call at a little bit before 4:00 regarding the officer-involved shooting. I went to the scene and talked to the command staff who is at the scene. When I left there shortly after 5:00, I would say that the situation was very, very much under control. There were people who were gathering. But it was a peaceful situation. Obviously there were emotions because an individual had lost his life. And I think we have to recognize that as well.

A young man lost his life yesterday afternoon. And no matter what the circumstances are, his family has to be hurting. I have a 23 year-old son, so I can't imagine what his parents are going through. I also have to say this, though, I have not seen the video. There was a body camera that the officer was wearing. That video will be under the jurisdiction for the time being of the State of Wisconsin, because the state of Wisconsin will be conducting the investigation.

I have, however, seen a still photo extracted from that. And that still photo demonstrates, without question, that he had a gun in his hand. And I want our community to know that. That he had a gun in his hand.

Now, the police officer didn't know it at the time. But there were 23 rounds in that gun, which means that he had more bullets in his gun than the police officer had in his gun.

And at the appropriate time, the state of Wisconsin will make available that body cam--video because there will be questions and there will be questions that arise from that. But I want our residents and anybody who is watching this to understand that what that police officer encountered was an individual running who had a gun in his hand.

I also want to talk to the parents and members of our community for a second. Last night was unlike anything I have seen in my adult life in this city. I hope I'd never see it again. For every member of this police department, it was unlike anything they have seen in their career. For every member at the fire department, it was unlike anything they've seen in their entire career. And I'm very proud of the way our police officers and fire fighters responded under tremendous, tremendous pressure.

What you saw last night was tremendous restraint by our police officers. Not a single shot was fired. Not a single shot was fired by the police. Chief Flynn will talk about the number of shots that we detected being fired as a result of our use of ShotSpotter (ph). But our police officers did not fire a single shot. That is tremendous restraint and I think that all residents should be thankful to our police officers and our firefighters.

I'm also happy to report that the four police officers who were injured have all been released from the hospital. Please keep them in your prayers. But these are individuals who put their lives on the line to make this neighborhood and all neighborhoods in this city safe. They have all been released from the hospital.

But, again, I want to go back to the parents and residents of this city. This is still a very volatile situation, I believe. I don't know what happen tonight. Again, I hope the fact that people now understand that this individual had gun, a loaded gun. He was told by the police officer to drop. I hope that that, in some ways, calms our community because that's what I'm seeking.

[15:50:04] I'm seeking our community, the city that we love to be calm tonight and for the rest of the summer.

So what is that going to take? This is going to take parents making sure that their sons and their daughters do not get involved in the activities that occurred last night. If we need to go to a curfew we're prepared to do that, but we are not making that decision right now. But this is certainly the time, because I've been in every neighborhood of this city, and I know how parents feel about their children, and I've been to funerals and wakes where parents have lost a child.

We don't know what's going to happen if we have a flare up tonight like we had last night. So, if you love your son, you love your daughter, you love your grandchild, tell them to stay away from this area. Stay away from this area. Let's calm things down. We are going to have an opportunity to the investigation to find out what happened. But I think what we saw last night is we saw a police department and a fire department that acted professionally. That did what it could to maintain the peace and order in this community. And we as a community owe it to each other, owe it to everyone to do all we can to restore order in Milwaukee tonight and for the rest of this week. Chief Flynn.

EDWARD FLYNN, NATIONAL GUARD CHIEF: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll spend a few minutes updating last night's events and also share with you a couple of additional items.

We're going to identify the name of the subject that was killed in the shooting by the police officer yesterday. I understand his name has already been put out on social media by some people. We'll confirm that. His name is Sylville K. Smith. First name is spelled S-Y-L-V- I-L-L-E, middle initial "K", last name Smith. He was born 4/11/93. He does have a lengthy arrest record with the Milwaukee Police Department.

Also going to advise you that earlier this afternoon, several shots were fired in the area of MPD District 7. It does not appear that the building was hit or anybody was injured, but the shots were, in fact, heard by the officers.

Overnight, a total of 17 arrests were made. Eight adult males were arrested for state disorderly conduct, three adult females were arrested for state disorderly conduct, two juvenile males were arrested for state disorderly conduct, three adult males were arrested for burglary and one juvenile male was arrested for burglary.

As of my recounting now, all of those re-arrested have had prior criminal records. The last night the mayor alluded that our shots fired, our gunshot detection system recorded numerous shots fired in the vicinity of this area last night. Total number of activations was 48. That doesn't mean 48 shots were fired. That means 48 different activations, so some activations were six, eight or ten shots fired all at once at a single activation. That was a great deal of gunfire in the area last night between the 30th and 51st (inaudible) at the center.

Seven squads were damaged last night. One unmarked squad as you've seen was set on fire. One marked squad was smashed by rioters and totalled. Another marked squad was hit by gunfire. Single shot to the trunk area. As you saw last night we used the bear cat as a means of protecting our deployed officers. That was hit by eight rounds of gunfire last night. Two of those rounds struck the windshield. One squad and one wagon were struck by bricks breaking their windows out.

We had six businesses set on fire last night. The B.P. Gas Station at 43rd and Burleigh was destroyed. The O'Reilly Auto Parts had 35th and Fond du Lac was destroyed. Jet Beauty at 35th and Burleigh was burned. The BML Bank branch at 36 and Burleigh has been heavily damaged by fire. Liquor stores at 22nd and Fond du Lac, and 21st and Hopkins were both heavily damaged, the one 22nd and Fond du Lac was destroyed.

[15:55:04] Obviously the loss of all of these businesses is the loss of dozens and dozens of jobs in our community as well as amenities that many of us take for granted in a livable neighborhood.

During last night's disturbance, a 16-year-old female was shot at 43rd and Burleigh. She was transported to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. She was severely hit either by a stray bullet or, you know, other rounds being fired by the crowd.

We have no reported uses of force by the police last night. As the mayor mentioned, not only did none of the officers dealing with this disturbance use their firearms. We have no reports of them using their pepper spray, their baton, their tasers (ph) or their hands in such a way as to take somebody to the ground.

We had four injured officers last night. Mercifully they were treated and released ultimately. A female officer of ours was hit by a piece of concrete and sustained a concussion and a laceration requiring seven stitches to close. Another officer was struck by concrete which injured his arm. Third officer was struck by concrete that was thrown at him and hit his shin and another officer was injured by flying glass.

When we finish this press conference we're going to have a meeting with pastors and members of the faith community to update them on what we've learned about this incident and to urge them to continue their work, those that have already started in on their own and also to coordinate work with us to try to keep the neighborhood peaceful this evening.

It's very important that those people that are in the neighborhood are consistently giving a message of peace and civility that nothing is being accomplished through acts of violence.

Tonight, we have activated our major incident response teams. That's a total of 150 officers who have been specially trained in crowd control and management. A number of them were at the scene last night. It's another reason why we've been able to police many protests over the last two years without major incident because these officers are very much trained in the dynamics of crowd control and group psychology and generally were able to affect peaceful protests without major incidents. But we're calling up our members who have all been trained in that.

We are going to have all of our officers in two officer patrols again. We're holding over the day shift, and the evening shift and swing shifts and tactical shifts are all going to be extended as well. We're going to, therefore, maintain normal staffing in the districts to deal with the normal call for service and crime call load while still retaining many officers from our various task force and work deployments to be able to reinforce areas that may be plagued by disturbances.

At this point in time, we do not anticipate outside jurisdiction health. We are very appreciative of the assistance we received so far and the officer of assistance we've received from our federal partners. The Sheriff's Office has contacted us and they are deploying numerous extra deputies tonight and they're going to coordinate their deployments in the vicinities with our command post. We have a very sound working relationship at the operational level with the members of the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office and we suspect that that will certainly be useful, should there be problems this evening.

We also have a very robust mutual aid in place with our suburban partners if that should necessary. But we feel, at least, at this point in time based on our understanding of the situation, the size of last night's incident and our work on trying developing useful intelligence that we have sufficient officers of our own and certainly with the addition of the sheriff's department personnel should be sufficient.

But, obviously, we're not prideful here. We need additional assistance and we will certainly ask for it. That's our update as to now. And we'll do our best to answer to questions you have. And you can start now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us the officer who was involved?

(OFF-MIC)

FLYNN: You know, normally, I'd like to think that doesn't matter. I know it does. I also know that there's been a lot of work on social media trying to identify him so that there are number of people here who wanted to do that officer a harm. He happens to be African- American and has several years of experience and he's a very active officer.

[16:00:02] And we're concerned for his safety and he's been staying with relatives at camp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, you talked about the initial staff over the recent for the initial staff. And what does the video camera been able to reveal that you've looked at?