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New State Department E-mails on Clinton Foundation; Mike Pence Concerned Regarding Foreign Donations to Clinton Foundation; Two Arrested in Shooting of Dwyane Wade's Cousin; Examining Donald Trump on Immigration. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired August 28, 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] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone, and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

CNN has obtained a new batch of State Department e-mails that reveal the type of correspondence the State Department may have had with donors of the Clinton Foundation. A Clinton Foundation official requested some top donors be invited to a lunch event and asked if one donor could be seated next to Joe Biden.

CNN's Dianne Gallagher has been digging in on all of this kind of information. So, what have you uncovered?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So far, this does shed a little bit more light on at least what's the relationship is between the state department under then Secretary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. These e-mails were obtained by conservative groups Citizens United, as part of the public records lawsuit. They shared them with CNN and if anything, these e-mails are definitely sure to continue fanning the flames of controversy.

There are some parts where a Clinton Foundation executive at that time, Doug Band, sent e-mails to top Clinton aid Huma Abedin, requesting if these people that he put on a list could maybe get invitations to a state department luncheon with the president of China back in 2011. On that list were the Western Union CEO, Hikmet Ersek, his representatives that he did not receive an invitation there, then UBS President of Wealth Management, Bob McCann, and also Rockefeller President, Judith Rodin.

Now, Fred, the company is that each of those executives work for, are pretty big donors to the Clinton Foundation. Again, at least Ersek never even receive an invitation according to him, but this is something that, of course, Donald Trump has been calling out on the campaign trail. The Clinton campaign though, saying that the Citizens United is a right-wing group that's been going after the Clintons for decades now. And Citizens United, of course, has been looking into to face that and trying to do legal stuff with this for the past two years, getting these e-mails.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much from Washington. We look forward some more. I appreciate it. And Vice Presidential Candidate Mike Pence is particularly concerned about any foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation. Pence telling CNN's Jake Tapper in a CNN exclusive interview that he thinks an independent special prosecutor should open an investigation. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: What is the point exactly you're trying to make about the Clinton Foundation and can you point to any actual evidence that as secretary of state, she actually changed a policy because of this access that donors allegedly have?

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's a fair question, but access is also very valuable. And this week, we learned from the Associated Press that more than half of the individual meetings that secretary of state granted during her tenure with to ...

TAPPER: Not including government officials or foreign officials?

PENCE: Of course not.

TAPPER: Yeah.

PENCE: These are individual meetings ...

TAPPER: Yeah.

PENCE: ... she has discretion over. More than half of those meetings were granted to individuals who contributed tens of millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation. Look, you know, this has been unfurling in front of American people, particularly over the last few weeks. This week, we'd found out 15,000 e-mails she didn't turnover.

We also learned from congressional investigation that these so-called e-mails on wedding plans and yoga that she eradicated with some high- tech software called BleachBit, which completely eliminates the capacity, in most cases, to recover them. But, you know, the simple fact is, this is becoming more and more clear, through direct evidence in these e-mails that State Department officials under Secretary of State Clinton were extending access and special favors to major donors of the Clinton Foundation.

TAPPER: Can you point to any favors, though?

PENCE: Foreign donors of the Clinton Foundation and major corporations. And your viewers should be reminded here, that foreign donors cannot contribute to presidential campaigns.

TAPPER: Sure.

PENCE: And so this becomes a conduit for people to gain access. And gaining access is a favor, Jake. But ...

TAPPER: Mr. Trump's foundation gave $100,000 or so to the Clinton Foundation. Was he trying to gain an access? Was he trying to gain a favor?

PENCE: I think Donald Trump made it very clear through the course of his career. He's supported a broad range of initiatives and policies. Just this last week, he contributed $100,000 to a little church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The didn't do it publically, you people found out about it. But when we were down there visiting families a little more than a week ago, he was impressed with the work of that church was doing ...

TAPPER: Why did he give money to Clinton Foundation...

(CROSSTALK)

PENCE: ... was doing and he's just very quietly in the car said, "I'm going to send $100,000".

TAPPER: But you're not comparing that to Mr. Trump's foundation giving money to the Clinton Foundation?

PENCE: Well, I'm just saying, Donald Trump -- I know we want to make Donald Trump the issue on the every issue.

TAPPER: No, you're making - you're talking about the Clinton Foundation. I'm talking about the Clinton Foundation.

[15:04:59] PENCE: I'm talking about foreign donors and corporate donors to the Clinton Foundation with the Associated Press this week, was able to confirm were more than half of the meetings, private meetings the secretary of state granted during her tenure. And then, we found out this week, remarkably, and this just, I think is incredibly troubling to the American people. We found out the State Department now, even though they've been ordered to do it, will not provide the balance of her calendar until after the election.

You know, this is an example of pay-to-play politics. The American people are sick and tired of. And it's what Donald Trump and I are going to bring to a crashing end when he becomes president.

TAPPER: But you can't point to any policy change? You said the access is the important thing?

PENCE: Well, I think that's the reason why we need to have an independent special prosecutor in this case.

TAPPER: You're talking ...

PENCE: The FBI, you know, a couple of months ago, the FBI wanted to initiate a public corruption investigation into the Clinton Foundation. And senior officials at the Obama Justice Department shut it down.

TAPPER: They said they looked into it a year before and there wasn't enough there?

PENCE: Well, we heard it was reported publicly. The FBI thought about opening a public (inaudible). TAPPER: Yeah, CNN broke the story.

PENCE: And I commend you for that. But my point is that now, this is exactly what the independent special prosecutor statured is for.

TAPPER: OK.

PENCE: The administration should appoint a special prosecutor. And frankly, one other thing on this, for the Clintons to say that if she's elected president, they would recognize a conflict of interest in the Clinton Foundation and so would be stepping away from it, former President Clinton. If it would be a conflict of interest when she's president of the United States, why wasn't raising money from foreign donors, a conflict of interest when she was secretary of state of the United States of America?

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, we'll hear more from Jake's interview with Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. What he has to say about Trump's reaction to the shooting death of Dwyane Wade's cousin and the violence in Chicago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:10:00] WHITFIELD: After week long accusations of racism from Hillary Clinton, the Donald Trump campaign is vowing he will speak to black voters more directly going forward. But his running mate, Mike Pence, is defending his past pitches to African-Americans.

Here's what he told to CNN's Jake Tapper in this exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TAPPER: You talked about the inner cities. There was a tragedy in Chicago on Friday, Nykea Aldridge, the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade was shot and killed while pushing her infant child in a stroller. Donald Trump's reaction to the news was this tweet. "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago."

Just what I've been saying, African-Americans will vote Trump. And I know that since then he's made an effort to express empathy and apathy. But that initial tweet, do you think that was a presidential reaction to a tragedy?

PENCE: Well, right after that, he issued his -- a tweet expressing his prayers and his thoughts and his condolences ...

TAPPER: But this is a pattern. When there's a tragedy, he sends a tweet talking about how this is going to help his campaign.

PENCE: Look, can I just make the point. A lot of you people in the media spend more time talking about what Donald Trump said and tweeted in the last three days than you do focusing on what the Clintons have been up to for the last 30 years. So let me just stipulate to that. On this, look, Donald Trump has a plainspoken away about him. And the tragedy of a mother pushing her child on the streets of Chicago being shot and killed, as Nykea Aldridge was, just breaks my heart. You've got a little one at home. We raised three kids. It's just unimaginable. But it's on top of the more than 2,700 shootings in Chicago ...

TAPPER: Right, which is why so many people were offended when his reaction was, "Vote Trump."

PENCE: Well, I don't -- the point Donald Trump is making is that we have a choice to make this fall. You can go with the party that has been responsible for the liberal policies that apparently have been content with unsafe streets in Barrack Obama's hometown of Chicago, where 2,700 people have been shot this calendar year alone.

TAPPER: The law enforcement in Chicago says a lot of those guns come from your home state.

PENCE: You have failing school. Well, there tremendous gun control in Chicago, let's be clear.

TAPPER: But not in Indiana and a lot of them come over the border. That's what Chicago police say.

PENCE: OK. In Indiana, we know what most Americans know is that, that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens makes our communities more safe, not less safe.

TAPPER: Not those guns that go over the border.

PENCE: I know the president wants to blame shift to Second Amendment ...

TAPPER: I'm just saying what Chicago police say. But I want to ask you a question ...

PENCE: The truth of the matter is that Donald Trump is laying out in that tweet, in short form, and there's, what a 140 characters that we have a choice to make as a country. We can continue with the leadership that has left us with dangerous streets in our cities, failing schools, no jobs, or we can go with someone who is committed to educational choice for minority families and families all across this country ...

TAPPER: Right.

PENCE: ... or commitment to law and order and standing by our law enforcement community, committed to bringing jobs and opportunity and hope - regardless of race and creed ...

TAPPER: ... ask you, your newly installed campaign CEO, Steve Bannon, is coming under a lot of scrutiny. There have been questions about a domestic violence arrest. There have been questions about accusations from his ex-wife of anti-Semitism. Did you know any of this when he was hired? PENCE: Well, I know Steve Bannon has denied those charges. I know he enjoys a very strong relationship with his ex-wife and their two wonderful kids. So ...

TAPPER: Does it bother you at all, those charges?

PENCE: Well, I also know one other thing. I know the media loves to chase after these processed stories, these staff stories. But when I'm traveling across the country, the American people are focused on their future. They're focused on the fact that this economy -- we just rounded down the last quarter's economic numbers to 1.1 percent. Real Americans haven't seen an increase in their wages in real terms for 10 to 15 years.

I mean, I have to be honest with you. As I'm traveling all over the country, people are coming up to me, they are responding to Donald Trump's broad-shoulders, plainspoken leadership that we can make America great again. We can be strong on the world stage. We can have an economy that works for every American.

And I think all of these process stories go by the wayside and this election is going to be decided on whether we go with the status quo, the failed policies, or whether we embrace real change and a stronger America.

[15:15:00] TAPPER: One more process question, although I think you might enjoy this one more. Debates are coming up.

PENCE: Yeah.

TAPPER: Are you preparing for them, other than going ...

PENCE: Yeah.

TAPPER: ... on this show this morning? Are you preparing for a rigorous discussion of issues and other things?

PENCE: We are.

TAPPER: How you doing that?

PENCE: We are. Well, we're just, you know, we're ...

TAPPER: Do you have something for Tim Kaine?

PENCE: We're talking to some people about doing that. And we'll be doing probably some practice debates in about three or four weeks. But for now, it's just a lot of cracking the books. You know, I spent 12 years in Congress.

TAPPER: Yeah, I know.

PENCE: You know, it seemed longer, but I spent 12 years in Congress. But, you know, refreshing and returning to those issues, because I've been focused on leading the great state of Indiana the last four years. But also, just, you know, preparing ourselves to take that opportunity to lay out Donald Trump's vision for this country. It is a positive vision. It's a broad-shouldered optimistic vision, and I look forward to being able to share the stage with Senator Kaine to do just that.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, what our panel has to say about Pence's interview, and the latest news that Trump is scheduling events in front African-American audiences. All of that ahead in the CNN "Newsroom".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. So before the break, you heard Governor Mike Pence defending the Trump campaign's outreach to the black community. Let's talk about this with Republican Political Commentator and Donald Trump Supporter, Paris Dennard, good to see you and Democratic Strategist and Clinton Supporter, Mustafa Tameez, good to see you as well. OK.

[15:20:09] So, Paris, you first. You know, Trump, you know, has been accused of talking at voters not reaching them where they live. A point both campaigns, in fact, actually have made points on Sunday talk shows today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DONNA BRAZILE, INTERIM DNC CHAIR: Donald Trump has not held an event in the black community. He is not gone to a black church, as Hillary Clinton has done. He's not going to historical black colleges -- the mothers of children who have been slain and killed from violence in this country.

CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Trump has been running for president, though, Kellyanne, since June of 2015. That's 14 months. Question, how many times has he gone into an American inner city and held an event for a largely black audience?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't know the answer, but I can tell you there are some ...

WALLACE: And let me just say, would you be surprised if the answer is none? Never?

CONWAY: No, I would not be surprised. And I will tell you, Chris, and I pledge to you, and everybody who's watching that those events are actually being planned. And we're very excited about them.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. So, Paris, why now? Why will Donald Trump now find his way in largely African-American, you know, environment and for 14 months he hasn't?

PARIS DENNARD, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's important to note that Mr. Trump has a long record of being supportive and engaging with the black community from the time when Reverend Jesse Jackson started the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Wall Street project, giving him space to utilize that on 48th of Wall Street to the time when he, Mr. Trump, took over Mar-a-Lago. He desegregated it. He went to open up those facilities to African-Americans and Jews and so ...

WHITFIELD: So does that mean if there's a feeling within the campaign that enough has been done or said and the people should know ...

DENNARD: No.

WHITFIELD: ... and that explains why he hasn't been, you know, in a place where there has been a predominantly black audience?

DENNARD: I think the liberal media has an idea that you have to be in a black community. You have to go to a black church in order to call what you're doing with engagement. I see what Mr. Trump has been saying and the policies that he's putting out that will affect our community positively as engagement. So now the media says he needs to go to a black church. He has to go to a black organization. And so the campaign is saying we're going to do that ...

WHITFIELD: I guess the reaction had ...

DENNARD: ... in addition to the continued engagement that he has been doing and that the RNC is doing as well.

WHITFIELD: Well, haven't there been some reaction over the past weeks, particularly where, you know, many had said, there was a feeling that he was talking at Black people. He wasn't really talking to them the way in which he addressed them particularly when they were audiences that had no, you know, black people in them. And that the Trump campaign is relying on a televised audience, relying on television to help convey his thoughts and feelings to black people and that just is not convincing enough.

DENNARD: Well, I think it's encouraging that the new Campaign Chair Kellyanne is going to schedule events in the black community. But what I will say, Fred, is that, Mr. Trump has been engaging and been talking about some specific issues that are really, really important. So these other things about calling people bigots and all these other things are distractions to the fact that Mr. Trump is raising awareness about the realities of our community, especially those that are in place like Chicago and the horrible incident that happened with Dwyane Wade's cousin.

I mean, these are real issues, unemployment, school choice and high crime. These are realities in our community. And it's important that the republican nominee is talking about them and proposing what he's going to do because under the past, almost eight years of the Obama administration, and many of these communities that have been run by democrats, my community, has been suffering.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Mustafa ...

DENNARD: So, it's encouraging to see Mr. Trump doing this. WHITFIELD: All right, sorry to interrupt. So, Mustafa ...

DENNARD: It's okay.

WHITFIELD: ... is it enough that Donald Trump has said, he's been talking to, interacting with, but just not seeing him in a predominantly black audience doesn't necessarily seem fair enough of an assessment of who he is and who he is trying to appeal to?

MUSTAFA TAMEEZ, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER CONSULTANT, HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, Fredricka, first of all, I want to welcome Mike Wallace to the liberal media that, you know, as if he's joined all of the ranks as well.

This is just the tortured language that everybody has to use to try to explain Donald Trump. Donald Trump can't be explained. He has a history of making very racist remark from the beginning. He started with the Birther Movement against President Obama and then you go on and on, when he launched his campaign, he called Mexican-Americans reckless and murderer.

DENNARD: Let's talk about the African-American community.

TAMEEZ: This is very difficult to do this. Well, you know what? We should talk about all communities of colors. And if want to talk about African-American communities ...

DENNARD: No, let's talk about Black communities. Let's talk about the Black community.

TAMEEZ: Let's talk about ...

WHITFIELD: But isn't that part of the point that he ...

(CROSSTALK)

TAMEEZ: If you give me a minute, I will do that.

DENNARD: Donald Trump has said it's been negative against the black community.

[15:25:01] WHITFIELD: But do people want to be divided into categories as opposed to being American people in general?

DENNARD: That's the democrats are doing all day long and every single day.

(OFF-MIC)

TAMEEZ: So if you ...

WHITFIELD: So it's a reflection of the diversity of American people in general and a message that would resonate with everyone?

DENNARD: Make America great again is one. Bringing back jobs to this country is another message. TAMEEZ: Yeah.

DENNARD: Getting our immigration system, our illegal immigration system under control is the message that resonates with a lot of people. When you look at this high unemployment rate, 8.4 percent of black community that is something that white people understand, Hispanic people understand, especially people in my community understand.

WHITFIELD: OK.

DENNARD: You got to get jobs for that.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. So, let me allow Mustafa to have some airtime here too.

TAMEEZ: Well, look, if you want to talk about the state of black America, we can certainly do that, but Donald Trump is not a credible messenger, because he has not done anything. And the most that he does is basically court white supremacists that are -- that he's re- tweeting what they have tweeted. He has given them a platform unlike any other. You have David Duke who says he's inspired to run for political office for the United States Senate watching the Donald Trump campaign.

DENNARD: Who he denounced (ph).

TAMEEZ: This is unheard of. And so, you can keep interrupting every time you like, but these are the facts that you must face ...

DENNARD: If you're not going to give facts that's the ...

TAMEEZ: ... because you are supporting someone who is driving the conversation in our country and tearing the fabric of our nation. And I think people should be ashamed to support Donald Trump ...

DENNARD: We should be ashamed to hear Tim Kaine go to an HBCU and talk about KKK and link him up to ...

TAMEEZ: Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?

DENNARD: ... Donald Trump. That's the shameful. That's the shameful.

TAMEEZ: Is he actually sending you a check to be on television to represent him that way?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Wait a minute. One at a time. Go, Mustafa.

TAMEEZ: Look, I sat on the board of the African-American bank. The oldest one in Texas and a lot has to be done in terms of creating an environment in which communities of color can succeed, black, Hispanic, Asian, and all others. But the kind of rhetoric that Donald Trump has engaged in, demeaning language, saying to people, "Give me a chance. What do you got to lose?" Is this the kind of language we want from the presidential candidates?

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. So, Paris, I'm wondering if you have any idea what the message will be, if indeed he does go to a place where there's a largely Black audience where you heard, you know, Kellyanne say, that is somewhere in the near future then what would the message be? How would it be any different from what people have heard? How would the message to an African-American audience be different from an audience in general, black, white, Latino, et cetera?

DENNARD: Yeah, Fred, back to your original point, his message is universal. The message of making America great again for everyone is a universal message. But when you go to the black community and talk to us as relates to the things that have been going on. When you look at education, he's for school choice. He's for charter schools. He's for bringing jobs back. He's for getting that unemployment rate a lot further down than it has been under the Obama administration. He's for doing things that are going to empower people.

TAMEEZ: But no plans.

DENNARD: Excuse me?

TAMEEZ: But no plans. He can keep talking about stuff, but not a single plan. You look at the website, there is nothing ...

WHITFIELD: OK.

TAMEEZ: ... on there that articulates what he wants to do and how he wants to do it.

WHITFIELD: All right, gentleman. So we are all staying tuned, aren't we? Mustafa Tameez, Paris Dennard, thank you so much to both of you, gentlemen. I appreciate.

DENNARD: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back. I appreciate it.

DENNARD: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:20] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

New information now in the murder of NBA Star Dwyane Wade's cousin, two brothers are locked up charged with killing Nykea Aldridge. Aldridge was shot in the head while she was out pushing her newborn in a stroller on Friday. She died a short time later at the hospital. Authorities say she was not the intended victim. Police say Derren Sorrells and Darwin Sorrells Jr. were shooting at another man when Aldridge was caught in the cross fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) EDDIE JOHNSON, CHICAGO POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Darwin Sorrells was let

out on parole for unlawful use of a weapon in February of this year. Six months later, while he was still on parole, he was then involved in an incident that took an innocent life. His brother, Derren Sorrells was involved in a murder not only while he was on parole but while he was wearing a home monitoring bracelet. I want all of you to think about what I just said and asked what that tells you.

It should tell you that it's time to stop talking and get serious and take action when it comes to how we sentence our repeat gun offenders. I'm frustrated. You should be frustrated. All Chicagoans should be frustrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: News of the arrest broke as grieving friends and family gathered to mourn Aldridge at a vigil. The young mother leaves behind four children including the 3-week-old who was with her in that stroller when she was gunned down.

In a heart-wrenching coincidence just one day before his cousin was murdered, Dwyane Wade spoke at a forum about the epidemic of gun violence in his hometown of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DWYANE WADE, NBA PLAYER: Back then, when jobs were dried up, when we weren't privileged to certain high educations, you know, to even healthy food. I think at that moment, at that time, I think we started to turn on each other. And we kind of adopted that mentality that, you know, it's about me surviving. And we still live that today.

You know, it's like, you know, I don't want to tell no one else the information and knowledge that I have, because I don't want for this person to be bigger or better than me. And that's the mentality our community has taken. It goes way back. And, you know, that's why I think that it's important for all of us, as I said earlier, it's important for all of us to help each other, to go back and say, "You know what, where did this start, or how did this start, and let's see how we can change there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Pretty profound. That forum was hosted by ESPN.com's "The Undefeated" and it was about athletes' responsibility and gun violence.

Raina Kelley is the managing editor for "The Undefeated". She joins us right now from Bristol, Connecticut.

Raina, good to see you. So here you are part of this forum and bringing these great minds together including, you know, Dwyane and then you hear about this. What was the initial reaction in terms of the distance between, you know, Dwyane Wade's comments and then his cousin being gunned downed that way? RAINA KELLEY, "THE UNDEFEATED" MANAGING EDITOR: Shock. I mean -- I think the first absolute response was shock.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

KELLEY: Just today. And then the second response, almost immediately is if this were a film, you would say in a review, "That's ridiculous", those things don't happen, this coincidence don't happen, that's Hollywood. But this actually happened and it is what is happening. I could have, you know, come back from a town hall that we hosted tomorrow.

[15:35:04] I could come back from a town hall we hosted the day after tomorrow. I could pick six different cities and I'm not sure the result would have been any different. That's the tragedy. That's where we are right now with the epidemic of gun violence.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, for Dwyane, I mean this is clearly very personal. He was talking about his own experience in Chicago, you know, that kind of dog-eat-dog, you know mentality and what has become a way of life that he was talking about and then something like this happens. You hear the police superintendent, you know, who talked about it being disturbing to him. It should be disturbing to, you know, all Chicagoans, to everyone. The numbers, you know, are quite staggering and people need reminding of just how bad it is. And the police department is saying at least four people have died and 24 others wounded in shootings since noon yesterday.

When your panelists got together, what do they talk about in terms of solutions or addressing numbers, crisis like this?

KELLEY: What we talked about was a second irony, which was that we are convening to talk and how we wanted this town hall not to be about talk. We have arrived at this moment which was the impetus for the town hall. We arrived at this moment where people are no longer numb. They're angry. Who is -- what is happening? What is this country that we live in? What's wrong? What can I do? And so we very much wanted to have a conversation that spoke to people's desire for solutions. And I think, you know, both sadly and ironically, but also completely correctly Dwyane spoke about scarcity of resources.

And so when you are in areas where poverty has become entrenched, where schools have become impoverished and can no longer provide a quality education, where there are food deserts, where crime is high. And people feel like there is no way out, you know. You get incidents where people start to turn on one another. They start to fight over the resources that are available in that block, in that two blocks, three blocks, in that neighborhood. And those are institutional problems that require institutional solutions on the one hand, but on the other hand, which is another point we tried to make it the town hall, it also takes an individual desire to see change.

WHITFIELD: And that's exactly the message ...

(CROSSTALK)

KELLEY: And act on it.

WHITFIELD: ... yeah, by Dwyane Wade so profoundly in that interview.

All right. Raina Kelley, thank you so much. Our hearts are heavy for Dwyane Wade's family, for the Aldridge family as a whole.

KELLEY: Yes, they are.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, Trump's latest promise on illegal immigration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On day one, I'm going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:58] WHITFIELD: All right. This morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Mike Pence insisted that Donald Trump has been absolutely consistent on his immigration stance. But here's a look at Trump's various statements over the last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They're illegal immigrants. They got to go out.

You're going to have a deportation force and you're going to do it humanely.

We're going to be saying you have to go, and there certainly can be a softening, because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people. We have some great people in this country.

They'll pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes. There's no amnesty, as such. There's no amnesty. But we work with them.

Well, I don't think it's a softening. I think it's ...

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: But 11 million people are no longer being deported?

TRUMP: I've had people say it's a heartening actually.

COOPER: But 11 million who have not committed a crime ...

TRUMP: No, no. We're then going to see.

COOPER: There's going to be a path to legalization, is that right?

TRUMP: You know it's a process. You can't take 11 at one time and just say, boom, you're gone.

On day one, I'm going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining me to talk it all over, Republican Strategist Brian Morganstern and Political Analyst Ellis Henican, who's also the author of "The Party's Over: How I Became a Democrat".

All right. Good to see both of you. All right. So, Brian, you first. You know, this evolving stance or I guess, you know, people are arguing about whether this is an evolution, a shifting or whatever it is. How does this help or hurt Donald Trump on immigration?

BRIAN MORGANSTERN, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Well, it's sort of a trade-off. You know, in the course of thinking through the issue, it's interesting to see him land in the same place as many republican candidates have actually thought through the issue, like Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush, because there aren't that many policy possibilities and so the disagreement frequently boils down to how to handle the people who are already here illegally and what legal avenues are available or unavailable to them.

So he seems to be landing in the same place as many other Republicans. In terms of the strategic advantages and disadvantages it may appeal to more sort of, you know, normal mainstream, moderate people who are in this policy place, as well it may, you know, disappoint some of his core supporters who thought he was going to be different, you know, he was going to be the hard liner or whatever. But he's, you know, come to the conclusion that many candidates have reached based on the facts.

WHITFIELD: So this morning, I meet the press RNC Chair Reince Priebus talked about how, you know, Donald Trump is trying to show more decency on the trail. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REINCE PREIBUS, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: What I think is that Donald Trump understands that with every position that he's taken and as you get closer to the White House, a degree of humanity and decency is part of every decision that needs to be made. And I know Donald Trump. I know Donald Trump in private. I talked to him every day. I know what he's thinking about a lot of these issues and this is a good and decent man that wants to do the right thing and wants to take every position that he's talking about and pepper it with decency, dignity, and humanity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:45:05] WHITFIELD: So then, Ellis, you know, does this help him win support or does it kind of irritate, you know, his staunch supporters?

ELLIS HENICAN, POLITICAL ANALYST: No, both. I mean I want to buy Reince Priebus an ice cream cone. I mean do you know anyone who has a tougher job than that poor man, right? I mean he's got this candidate, right? And I mean he understands none of this stuff makes sense. I mean, where Brian sees a sensible landing, you know, I see someone just throwing confetti in the air. He has no idea what those words mean or where they're going to land or what he's going to believe tomorrow. This is just a guy. He's got the attitude down. But when he tries to assign it to actual policies, he's clueless and poor Priebus is just trying to figure out what the heck he's going to do for the next 72 days.

WHITFIELD: Is it also kind of what difference he's going to make at this point? I mean, I wonder, you know, people have made up their mind, and other people say they're undecided, but I don't know. And, you know, you've either made up your mind, either you're for, you know, one candidate or for the other one.

And so is it Trump feeling like with ten weeks to go? You kind of know where he's coming from. And if you're backing him, it's not really going to matter, these nuances of words. Brian, what do you think?

MORGENSTERN: Well, there are a whole lot of Americans who are openly partisans. There are a whole lot of Americans who claim that they're not -- they claim that they're independent but they just happen to coincidentally vote the same way every cycle. And then there is a really tiny group of people who are actually undecided and I will forever struggle to understand why or how they could be that way. But they do exist. I just think it's interesting that they've decided to, you know, really kind of go against the brand here. And as Reince said, you know, try this recipe of peppering in and throwing in a little dash of humanity and a sprinkle of decency into the campaign at the last minute trying to change their mind.

WHITFIELD: Stir and all that.

MORGENSTERN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Well, things will get stirred up, so to speak, once the debate season rolls around. And so September 26th, you know, the first debate and there's an interesting article in today's "Washington Post", that talks about the preparedness or the approach. And you know, clearly very different styles between, you know, Clinton and Donald Trump. And you see right there, you know, this headline of wrestlemania or, you know, careful.

And so while "The Post" writes that, you know, Hillary Clinton is approaching it like a seasoned, you know, a veteran, you know, attorney who's preparing for a big trial, you know, Donald Trump has had like Sunday brunches or, you know, breakfast meetings with some of his close confidants including Rudy Giuliani to get ready for what's to come.

So Brian, you know, will there be, you know, a real display of differences on that debate stage based on the preparedness or lack thereof? Or is it going to be more of what we're seeing from these candidates just on a bigger stage?

MORGENSTERN: Well, I think that, you know, that debate prep team that Trump has I think he's going to ensure that there are some key differences highlighted. I mean, Rudy Giuliani is one of the greatest lawyers that we've seen. I mean what he did as U.S. Attorney in New York was, you know, unbelievable. He convicted all the Mafia dons. I mean, this is no lightweight in terms of being to trap ...

WHITFIELD: But he can't make Donald Trump suddenly now attorneyesque (ph).

MORGANSTERN: Well, true, but he can put the key lines in his head to try to, you know, reinforce the policy differences that he wants to highlight. In terms of Trump's debate style, I mean we saw in the primaries, his number one asset isn't any particular line or argument, it's his persona, it's his attitude, like Ellis said, that seems that sort of helped him dominate his primary candidates. I don't know if the same approach will work against Hillary Clinton. Yeah, I mean we'll have to see it to figure out if it works. But that seemed to be what we he went with not any particular factor or policy or line, just his attitude.

WHITFIELD: And Ellis, quickly.

HENICAN: Well, I mean don't forget by the way, Hillary stomped Rudy Giuliani when he tried to run her against her for senate. It's no fact. This is just about crazy stuff going on. And as such, there is some risk for Hillary in it because you can't prepare for the guy who knows what he's going to say. Facts don't matter. You know, you could get slimed at any second. So I mean there's genuine risk for her here. And this isn't her strong suit. So it's going to be a lot of fun to watch, I'll tell you that.

WHITFIELD: I know. You can't wait huh?

MORGANSTERN: Let's see in TV (ph).

HENICAN: Bring it on. Bring it on.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian, Ellis, thank you so much.

We're going to talk more on next hour. Right now, coming up, the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refusing to stand during the National Anthem. Why he chose this way to protest?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:53:22] WHITFIELD: All right. A Star NFL quarterback is under fire for making a political statement by sitting on the bench during the playing of the National Anthem.

Polo Sandoval is with me now with more on this.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred, it's incredible that a preseason game would generate so much talk. In this case it is not necessarily what the NFL player did that is causing people to sound off on-line, it's what he did not do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick is behind a

controversial moment in a football season that hasn't kicked off yet. The 28-year-old chose not to participate in the National Anthem at the start of the preseason game Friday. This photo captures players and staffs standing as jersey number 7 sat silently on the sidelines.

Kaepernick says he was protesting systemic racism. He later told nfl.com, "I'm not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the streets and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder." Kaepernick silent demonstration is setting off a firestorm of criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN KAEPERNICK, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QUARTERBACK: My salute to you.

SANDOVAL: Furious football fans are posting videos on-line burning all things Kaepernick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should never play another down in the NFL again.

SANDOVAL: Kaepernick does have support, though. Political commentator Marc Lamont Hill defended the pre-game protester during a conversation with CNN Jim Sciutto.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I guess we're making it (ph) ethical immoral, even political argument. I would say it's absolutely justified. I go to games all the time.

[15:55:00] I'm a routine attender of basketball games. I never stand for the flag bearing.

(CROSSTALK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: You don't stand?

HILL: No. It is an act of -- it's an act of political resistance, it's an act of political critique.

SANDOVAL: One fan even to took to Twitter calling Kaepernick his next pick for president.

The 49ers organization said it respects their player's decision, a part of the team's statement reads, "We recognize the right of an individual to choose to participate or not in our celebration of the National Anthem." The team is now preparing for the next preseason kickoff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And Chip Kelly, the 49ers head coach adding to the statements from the league and the team saying that their players here, Fred, are encouraged to stand during the celebration, but not required to. So that's really what's fueling these discussions to make (ph)

WHITFIELD: Have we heard any more from him since so many have weighed in different ways?

SANDOVAL: From Kaepernick himself ...

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

SANDOVAL: ...on Twitter, I mean he obviously has been quite vocal there and then people have also been coming to his defense. But when you hear from the coach himself, he does not expect a major impact when it comes to the actual football season. He still going to be on the roster and he's still trying to get that coveted spot starting quarterback and of course he's also scheduled to play again when they take to the fields coming this Thursday.

WHITFIELD: Any promise of what would happen in next games?

SANDOVAL: Not at this point. I think a lot of people are going to be watching on the sidelines, though, especially during that part of game before they takeoff (ph).

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. Polo Sandoval. I appreciate it.

SANDOVAL: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. The next hour, CNN "Newsroom" continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:13] WHITFIELD: Hello again everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.