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Manafort Resigns As Trump Campaign Chairman; Manafort's Work In Ukraine Under Investigation; Reaction To Manafort's Resignation; Former Manager Speaks About Trump Campaign. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar in for Wolf Blitzer. It is 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you so much for joining us.

We begin with breaking news. Donald Trump's campaign chairman is out. Paul Manafort's resignation is the latest development in the wake of Trump's campaign reshuffling. And while all of this was unfolding, Trump was cheered by flood victims as he visited Greenwood Springs, Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We knew you'd be here, Mr. Trump. We knew you would be here for us. Glad you aren't playing golf.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump. Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty joining us from Washington. And, Sunlen, the Trump campaign announced in a statement that Paul Manafort submitted his resignation and the campaign accepted it. What more do we know about how all of this unfolded?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, you know, in light of this staff shake-up that's taken in this week, along with Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon coming on board, it was very clear that Paul Manafort, quite frankly, was not on this new Trump train as it was leaving the station on this new direction that the Trump campaign is trying to go.

He -- his role had been sidelined in recent weeks. And he once had an influential voice within the campaign but that had diminished -- been diminished in recent weeks in light of the shifting power dynamics that's taking place which is rather significant and dramatic. You know, Paul Manafort turning in his resignation to Donald Trump, sources telling CNN that he acknowledged that he was becoming a distraction for the campaign.

And it should be noted that since he was brought onto the campaign since this spring, he had built up considerable influence. He was the one behind the scenes that was trying to pressure Donald Trump to be more presidential, to reassure more establishment Republicans that Donald Trump could be the nominee that they wanted him to be, read off teleprompters, all those things.

So, certainly this resignation or this feeling that he was being pushed is an acknowledgment on the campaign that they were sort of veering off a course or that approach was not working in light of a really dramatic and hard few weeks for the Trump campaign.

KEILAR: And what about Manafort's dealings with pro-Russian forces in Ukraine, the -- well, really, the political party there. He's been under investigation for this, for possible cash payments. There's no record he got that money but, still, this is something we've been reading reports about. Him getting these headlines, was that part of this?

SERFATY: Yes, it definitely seems to be a large part of this because, quite frankly, it was another layer of complexity in an already very complex few weeks for the Trump campaign that they had to feel that they needed to deal with, with all the scrutiny and added, as you mentioned, multiple investigations.

And, today, it was interesting that the Trump campaign put out there Trump's son, Eric Trump, to kind of explain Paul Manafort's departure. And he used the word distraction. Here's more of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIC TRUMP: I think my father didn't want to be, you know, distracted by, you know, whatever things that, you know, Paul was dealing with. And, you know, Paul was amazing and, you know, he helped us get through the primary process. He helped us get through the convention. He did a great job with the delegates.

You know, and now you look at, you know, Kellyanne and some of the other people that we're bringing in and they're absolutely fantastic. And, you know, I think they're going to be the ones that bring us, you know, all the way through November 8th and, ultimately, get us the victory.

But, again, my father just didn't want to have the distraction looming over the campaign. And, quite frankly, looming over all the issues that Hillary's facing right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: That looming distraction really caught my ear there and it certainly at the stage of this campaign, 80 days out, Brianna. No campaign wants to be in a position of having to explain rather than be in a position of power. They don't want the attention to be on a campaign staffer rather than the candidate, himself -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much for that report.

Now, while Hillary Clinton's team has been in place for months, this is the third major campaign shakeup for Donald Trump in the past two months. The first, you had campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, ousted back in June. He does still receive severance from the Trump campaign.

[13:05:04] He's now a CNN political commentator and he's joining me now from Manchester, New Hampshire to talk about this. Before we get to your thoughts, Corey, on Paul Manafort, I just want to ask, losing one of your top campaign staffers 81 days out from Election Day, this is, to most people, a sign of a campaign that is struggling.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: First, thank you for having me. Second, actually, what's really important here is the candidate continued to build out his team, surround himself with people who have been loyal to him and have known him for a long period of time and will embrace the fact that he wants to be authentic and bring change to Washington, D.C. That's the most important thing.

And it's about the candidate whose name is on door and is running for president of the United States, having that comfort level with the people who are closest to him and making sure that they're allowing him to run the type of campaign and the overall strategy is going to be most effective. And I think that's what is the most important thing right now.

KEILAR: You said, actually, that you're not sure this is the last shakeup for the campaign. What did you mean by that?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, no, no. What I think is that you've brought in Kellyanne Conway to manage the campaign. She's an excellent person. She's known Donald Trump for 15 years. She understands him. You bring in Steve Bannon who's a great tactician. He's going to make sure everything is running properly.

I think what you're going to see is -- you're going to see additions to this team now. You're going to see the team continue to grow. You're going to see more senior people coming on board. People who have been loyal to Mr. Trump and have known him for a long period of time will be coming on in the last 80 days to make sure that he has the best team in place and that team is geared up for a general election victory.

KEILAR: Today, Donald Trump and Mike Pence's running mate, we just saw a video of them in Louisiana. Well received certainly by supporters there. But going there because of this historic flooding that we've seen and trying to say, look, we are responding. We are acknowledging what's going on here. It's something certainly that they're trying to put out a face of being presidential and being reactive to this tragedy. Why have this resignation, sucking up all of the oxygen on a day where this is really the only image that, politically speaking, Donald Trump should want out there? LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I think Eric said it very clearly. You know, his

father does not want the distraction or potential distraction of more stories coming about Paul Manafort and any potential relationships or ties he has with things taking place overseas.

So, doing this on a Friday in the summer is the right thing. You know, it's unfortunate that it couples the same day that Mr. Trump is going to be in Michigan doing a large rally and also being very presidential and going down and seeing those victims of a terrible tragedy in Louisiana.

But is there ever a good time? The answer is no. Today is the right day to do it and this story ends today and they can move on.

KEILAR: Your relationship with Paul Manafort -- I think you -- it's fair to say you've not been exactly described as besties. I think everyone knows that. But just describe your relationship with him now. Have you -- have you talked to him today? Have you talked to him recently here in the last few days?

LEWANDOWSKI: You know, I haven't talked to Paul but I can tell you -- because I've been there. You know, I've been there where you put your heart and soul into something for a long period of time. And now, you're not part of it anymore. And it's tough and it's humbling.

And I feel for Paul because I know how much time and effort he's taken away from his family and his children and his wife to be part of this campaign, to be part of the Trump campaign. And he's not there anymore. And it's a very hard thing to do. So, in that regard, I feel for Paul. I really do because I know how tough it is.

Now, that being said, it's -- the campaign should never be about a staff person. It should be about the candidate. And that's what this reflection is, is now all of the focus is back on Mr. Trump.

KEILAR: And this idea of letting Donald Trump be Donald Trump, I wonder because when you left the campaign, it was seen as a rebuke of that strategy, of the let Trump be Trump strategy directly. And yet, it seems like the course correction now is to go back toward that. Does that, in some way in your mind, redeem what your strategy was as campaign manager?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, my strategy with Mr. Trump is very simple and I've been very candidate about it. You have a great candidate, the best raw political candidate, best raw political talent this nation has seen in a hundred years is Donald Trump. You know, he came from nowhere. He never ran for office.

And as the Republican nominee for president of the United States, it's an amazing story and understanding that he has had his finger on the American people for dozens of years and just decided to get into this race. And his message from day one has resonated with those blue collar people. Those people are fed up with a broken Washington.

I think all this does is it reminds people of how authenticate Donald Trump is, that his message is right, that if the American people want to change a broken Washington, Donald Trump is that change. And his new leadership team also understands that.

KEILAR: OK. But to that -- the question I was asking before. I just -- I want to revisit that. I want to show you a tweet, something that you retweeted just a short time ago, not long after this news of Paul Manafort leaving came out. This tweet says, Lewandowski is winning so much even he may get tired of winning. A take, obviously, on something Donald Trump has said.

So, it's not too big of a jump there, Corey, to assume that you're -- it's a bit of a celebration or perhaps a redemption for you.

[13:10:10] LEWANDOWSKI: Well, let me say, I'll never get tired of winning and neither will the America people if Donald Trump is elected president. You know, this is something we talked a lot about in the campaign. He says, you're going to win so much you're going to be tired of it. I'll never get tired of winning.

And what I want to see -- and I've been very clear about this, is I want to see Donald Trump win. And I want to see him win the -- be the president of the United States. And, look, I think it's fair to say, the last three or four weeks of this campaign have not gone well. The poll numbers have indicated that. The campaign has missed opportunities to go after Hillary when they shouldn't have.

And what I want to see by winning is the campaign back on message. This week, for the campaign, has been a phenomenal one. New leadership. Donald Trump has been on message. His points are out. He's been very clear, very articulate. He's done outreach. You heard a speech from him last night that is widely praised as a very different type of Donald Trump, in a good way. That's what I think. And that's why I think this team is winning this week.

KEILAR: Are you talking to the campaign about perhaps rejoining?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I -- as you know I work for CNN. I'm very happy with my work here. And, look, I would be a distraction to that campaign. And you know that and I know that. And so, I'm very happy having an opportunity to participate through CNN and talk about what I think the campaign is doing right and what they're doing wrong, both the Trump campaign and the Clinton campaign. So, I'm very happy doing what I'm doing.

KEILAR: So, by your admission, you're -- you say, looking back these last three or four weeks, they haven't been good for your former boss. He's down in multiple battle ground state polls. Why do you think that is? Is that him? Do you think that was the stewardship of Paul Manafort? Where do you place the blame?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I think there's a couple things to look at.

KEILAR: What responsibility -- where do you place the responsibility as they try to adjust here?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, so, I think there's a couple of things. I think some of the scheduling I would have had issue with. You know, putting him in Connecticut or in Wisconsin and in places right now that aren't traditionally battleground states, when he should be in Florida, in North Carolina and Virginia, which I think you'll see him moving forward in those places.

I also think if you look at the lack of -- and it's been widely reported, the lack of a field team, particularly in a state like Florida. It only has one office up and running. You know, that is not on the candidate. That is the staff responsibility to build a voter registration program, a get out to vote program, an early program, a targeting, right? There is some blame, clearly, at the staff level because that stuff should have been going on.

And what I think you see now is you see Donald Trump clearly focused. His message is good. It's strong. It's articulate. It is precise. That, right now, this is going to be a very, very good week for the Trump team. And, hopefully -- look, you don't have to just win every week. You have to win every day. Donald Trump is winning today.

KEILAR: Corey Lewandowski, thank you so much. And as we say goodbye to Corey, there on your screen, those are live pictures coming to you of Donald Trump. He is in Saint Amonte (ph), Louisiana. By his side, Mike Pence, his running mate. He's visiting there with flood victims, where you have just 10s of thousands of people who have been put out of their homes because of flooding and are now involved in cleanup in this historic flood area. Pardon me, I want to correct myself. Santamon (ph), I'm being told. I don't want to upset anyone there that I'm mispronouncing the name. That is where he is in Louisiana.

All of this happening, of course, and you see Donald Trump passing out supplies, along with Mike Pence, to some of the flood victims there in that area. This all happening as Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, resigning following a major shakeup in his campaign.

We're going to keep looking at these pictures as we talk about this news that we're following with Paul Manafort, swept in, of course, back a few months ago as an agent of change for the Trump campaign. Now, he is out. Right? He is out of the campaign, just days after a new campaign structure put in place there.

We have CNN Political Director David Chalian here with me. And first, I want to get your reaction to what we just heard from Corey Lewandowski. It -- there was actually one thing that, sort of, struck -- maybe it's a detail but I want to see what you think about it. He said if he were doing this, he would not have Donald Trump in places like Connecticut or Wisconsin. Accept Wisconsin, he's actually sort of has been struggling in certain parts of the state where it should be reliably in his corner, right?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I mean, I think Wisconsin has been proven a little more elusive than the Trump campaign had hoped. I really think Donald Trump wanted to put that in play. But I don't know that they've written it off yet.

What we know is that where they are concentrating their dollars, which is always the best place to look, is Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. That's the state that is seeing the first Trump campaign ad of the cycle, those four states, starting today.

KEILAR: So, with Paul Manafort gone, officially -- and it's also interesting because you have the campaign saying, this is not a shakeup. This is an expansion. Well, now, you see it as sort of a contraction as well.

CHALIAN: Right.

KEILAR: So, this is a --

CHALIAN: Was it true on Wednesday when they said that? It's more true now today.

KEILAR: Yes, it's definitely -- we see what's going on. OK. So, with that in mind, how is this not just a turnback to where the campaign was when Corey Lewandowski was campaign manager and it was unbridled Donald Trump? It played well in the primary but struggled to gain him traction with voters in the middle of the political spectrum.

[13:15:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Turn back to where the campaign was when Corey Lewandowski was campaign manager and it was unbridled Donald Trump that played well in the primary but struggled to gain him traction with voters in the middle of the political spectrum.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: So I tend not to look at these things as sort of binary.

KEILAR: Yes.

CHALIAN: That either he's the Trump of the primary or he's pivoted and he's just trying to focus on more moderate voters. I don't think it's any of that. I think he - I think he is focused on winning the election. And to do that, he feels a lot of different notes have to be played, right? He needs to every day take the case to Hillary Clinton and I think bringing on Steve Bannon with his history of supporting the Clinton cash stuff and really taking it to Hillary on Breitbart all the time, I think that's one note that he wants to be playing.

He also clearly wants to be playing some other notes, like he played last night in Charlotte, North Carolina, to talk about regrets. And I - you know, clearly, Kellyanne Conway is having an impact on that kind of messaging and language. So I don't think it's any one Donald Trump or what is the real Donald Trump. I think it - what we're seeing here is a candidate who was clearly, as Corey said, clearly aware that the campaign was going south and is trying to turn he ship around in a way to best position himself going forward. And I think that requires multiple versions of Donald Trump with consistent messaging against Hillary Clinton and consistent messaging that can be seen as welcoming to more voters than he already has in his fold.

I want to talk about these live pictures that we have coming from Louisiana where Donald Trump and Mike Pence are visiting Louisiana flood victims. We just got word, David, that Hillary Clinton spoke with the governor, Governor Edwards, a Democratic governor, who had warned Donald Trump about pursuing a photo op there in the flood zone. I wonder want you sort of think of the lay of the land. The landscape

of this situation. You have President Obama, who some Republicans have said, hey, you're on Martha's Vineyard, why aren't you coming to visit this flood zone that is - I mean it's really the proportion of it is astounding. And then you have these two candidates trying to show some leadership here.

CHALIAN: Right. So I - this is not new to American politics, right -

KEILAR: Sure.

CHALIAN: That a big, tragic event takes place and politicians want to be there to express support, sympathy and learn about what has happened on the ground. And so, you know, I think what you're seeing is that - I'll leave the president aside for a moment -

KEILAR: Yes.

CHALIAN: But the two candidates running for president, Donald Trump seizing this opportunity to get on the ground, learn firsthand what actually went on there, and expressing sympathy. You saw those pictures. I mean that's - that's presidential campaign 101 there to -

KEILAR: And he's struggled at times to do that. So it's sort of a picture that we don't normally see. That's right.

CHALIAN: It's a new picture. Exactly. It's like a new version - a new image of Donald Trump that we normally don't see. Sort of in a news event like that, in a way that may be politically beneficial, but I also think, just talking to folks in the campaign, he really did want to get a sense on the ground of what was there.

Hillary Clinton, on the same day, to have the Democratic governor on the phone and in her FaceBook post to her supporters said, I'm told the best way that we can help right now is to get money to the Red Cross, get - she's trying to now fund raise and get some funds down there in a clear signal that said, I'm not sure the best way is to be on the ground right now. That very same Democratic governor, as you know, as you were mentioning about President Obama, said he would be a diversion of resources right now if he were to come on the ground, which White Houses of both parties have been somewhat concerned about in issues like this. Clearly when an issue like this is in the news, the candidates do want to seem in touch with the pain that people are experiencing. And I think we're seeing that on both sides today.

KEILAR: It's such the question. George Bush made the wrong decision in retrospect not going to Katrina because of this. So, you know, it's really - it's a - it's a risky decision that they make. David Chalian, thank you so much.

CHALIAN: Sure.

KEILAR: And up next, a closer look at Donald Trump's tour of flooded Louisiana.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:22:37] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) important to come to Louisiana today?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It's a great place. I've had a great history with Louisiana. They need a lot of help. What's happened here in incredible. Nobody understands how bad it is. It's really incredible. So I'm just here to help. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Well, that was Donald Trump in a different light than we have seen him here, visiting the flood zone in Gonzalez, Louisiana. The presidential candidate and his running mate, Mike Pence, are wrapping up their tour of this devastated area. So much damage there in that state. You have at least 13 people who have died. More than 40,000 homes have been damaged. Trump landed at this airport - at the airport in Baton Rouge this morning. He visited a church. He met with volunteers from the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse. He also toured a school damaged by floodwaters.

And let's get more now on Donald Trump's visit. We have correspondent Rosa Flores, who's joining us now from Gonzalez, Louisiana.

You've been covering this tragedy, Rosa, and now you are covering Donald Trump's visit to this area. How have people been reacting to him?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, I'm here actually with Sheriff Jeff Wiley. He was the official who briefed Donald Trump about the situation here in Ascension Parish.

So, sheriff, tell us about it. What did - what did you tell Donald Trump?

JEFF WILEY, SHERIFF, ASCENSION PARISH POLICE: Well, we had a few minutes with him. And, of course, we were glad that he came. Anything - anything, anybody who can bring this story - and thank you to CNN - across the country, maybe across the world, we want to avail ourselves of that. He was really nice to come here. We had our fire, we had our National Guard, we had our state agency, we had sheriffs, law enforcement people in a room to where he could hear a little bit of the circumstances we're in. And, frankly, he heard from two individuals here, one of them a faith-based representative, who is really, as you know, engaged in - in this service as well, and both of their homes - they're homeless. They're - so it really touched base. The they're still working. And they're still serving others. So we wanted him to see that, and the governor, his vice president nominee, and walk in and see 100 National Guardsmen sleeping 24/7 next door, fire fighters sleeping 24/7 next door because the fire stations are all washed out. And just -

FLORES: And we should probably point that out, sheriff -

WILEY: Yes.

FLORES: That this is a bit of a makeshift fire station because the fire stations in the area got water.

Now, I've got to ask you, because the optics of Donald Trump visiting southern Louisiana -

WILEY: Right.

FLORES: Are great. But as a leader, did he ask the right questions?

[13:25:05] WILEY: Well, he's not president yet. So he asked the - he asked the right questions. I mean told you - I told him, this is a - this is an August meeting, but I actually, January 2nd, whoever the president, would be the one, and if it's him, now he knows where (INAUDIBLE) Louisiana is. We're not - we're very happy about that, that he came. But, yes, I mean you ask the right questions and you - and you hear the right comments in five minutes I will say yes.

FLORES: Now, did he get a chance to see some of the devastated areas here in Ascension Parish?

WILEY: We just - just through the driver over. No, we didn't - he - no, he did not. But the route he take - he took from Livingston Parish to here, another parish north of us that was seriously devastated, perhaps much worse than we were, so he took that route and I think all the individuals he needed to see short of being in five foot of water, like you - you're familiar with here yesterday, right?

FLORES: I was in a - well, just a little while ago, I was in waders.

WILEY: Yes. Yes, right. So, no, I can't tell you that Donald Trump was in waders in five foot of water, no. That would have - might have been a little more impressive to him.

FLORES: A little more visual.

WILEY: Yes. Right. That didn't happen. But I will tell you that he was very gracious and a good listener.

FLORES: Sheriff, thank you so much for your time. We really - we really appreciate it.

WILEY: You're welcome. Thanks so much to you for carrying our message out. Thank you.

FLORES: Thank you so much.

Now, Brianna, like you just heard from the sheriff, Donald Trump was here. He got briefed very quickly. He was able to overhear some of the briefings that some of the officials and first responders here were attending. But probably the main thing - the main takeaway here were some of the details that we heard from the sheriff about what is happening here. Every single fire station in this area is completely flooded over. So Donald Trump had to come to a makeshift command post, a makeshift fire station, to get this briefing. That just gives you a sense of just the devastation in this area.

Brianna. KEILAR: Certainly does. Rosa Flores, thank you so much, reporting there for us in Louisiana.

And up next, President Obama criticized by the Trump campaign for not leaving his Martha's Vineyard vacation to visit victims of the Louisiana floods. Well, we will talk to Mary Landrieu. She's a former Democratic senator from Louisiana who was outspoken over the Bush administration's response when Hurricane Katrina hit her state.

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