Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Candidates Medical Records; Trump Visits Detroit; Quarterback Sits During National Anthem. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 29, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: For me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next. For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much and welcome back from vacation, by the way.

Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN. Thank you for starting your week with us.

The claws, they are out in the presidential race, but today's attacks are not only about policy or business or political records. Instead, today's theme is medical records. Both candidates raising questions about the health of their opponent. Donald Trump challenging Hillary Clinton in a tweet. This is what Mr. Trump tweeted. "I think that both candidates should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so. Hillary?" The Clinton campaign firing back on Mr. Trump's health and picking apart a letter from Trump's personal physician. The letter, in part, declaring that, quote, "if elected, Mr. Trump would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."

So let's begin there with our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Let's start with this letter that we have now seen from Trump's doctor. Tell me about that and about how he evaluated him.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, the letter is very interesting. You know, my colleague, Sanjay Gupta, was saying last week that he hadn't seen quite this kind of language ever in a medical letter. I must say, when I look at it, I feel the same way. Using, you know, phrases like his "his status - his cardiovascular status is excellent. If he were elected, he would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." I mean that kind of hyperbole is not seen in medical records. Medical letters are usually extremely dry and filled with facts and not filled with adjectives. So this letter definitely stands out. And as we learned in the interview that Donald Trump's doctor did with NBC this past weekend, he wrote is very quickly, he said, just in a matter of minutes while sitting in a limo. Another thing that's quite unusual.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: But let's take a listen to a piece of that interview with NBC News. Here we go. This is the doctor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. HAROLD BOMSTEIN, DONALD TRUMP'S DOCTOR: I thought about it all day and at the end I get rushed and I get anxious when I get rushed. So I tried to get four or five lines does as fast as possible that they would be happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're - we're not -

BOMSTEIN: (INAUDIBLE) right at this desk and write that letter while the diver waited for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Brooke, rushed, anxious while writing a very important medical record, writing it from a limo. Certainly not something that you would expect from a professional.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So we're going to loop back with my panel on this one.

Elisabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

Also today, complaints are still swirling that Donald Trump is not quite doing enough to meet with and really listen to African-American voters. So, you know what he's doing this weekend? He is heading to Detroit. He plans to make a direct appeal to black voters by doing an interview with the Impact Network. Trump's campaign touts Impact as the, quote, "only African-American owned and operated national Christian television network."

In the meantime, Trump continues to speak directly to black voters, Hispanic voters on Twitter. In fact, today, here's one of his tweets. Quote, "look how bad it is getting, how much more crime, how many more shootings will it take for African-Americans and Latinos to vote Trump? Trump equals safe," he tweets.

We should note, actually, that FBI statics show major violent crime nationwide is down from the 1990s. Trump is set to do this Detroit interview on Saturday. And unlike most of his campaign events, he won't necessarily be speaking to a pro-Trump crowd. Bishop Wayne Jackson says he'll give Trump about 30 minutes to outline his policies and says this event is not an endorsement of Trump.

So with me now, Pastor W. J. Rideout III, a colleague of Bishop Jackson's, who plans to actually protest outside of this location when Mr. Trump is in Detroit.

So, Reverend Rideout, first of all, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it.

REV. W.J. RIDEOUT III, PLANS TO PROTEST TRUMP'S VISIT TO CHRISTIAN TV PROGRAM: Thank you very much. I appreciate for being on your show today.

BALDWIN: You got it. Before we talk about your plans, sir, this weekend, I really wanted to ask you, since you're colleagues with Bishop Jackson, can you tell me more about any conversations you've had with him about why he said yes to Trump, what he's hoping to get out of Saturday's event?

RIDEOUT: Well, I can't speak as to what Apostle Wayne T. Jackson's method or standards are. I only know that he's having him there as any other person would have him on their show, any network, CNN, MSNBC. So he's just coming to do his interview there, like he would anywhere else.

BALDWIN: Do you know - is he a Trump supporter or he is - he's just saying, hey, I'm going to hear you out?

[14:05:01] RIDEOUT: That I don't know. I don't know that he is a supporter of Trump. I don't know what his stand is on that. I know that he is the owner of - and proprietor of the Impact Network And so he's doing what he does like he always does, be it a presidential candidate or a regular person or whoever.

BALDWIN: OK. Got you. And so, as for you, Reverend Rideout, what will you be doing Saturday while Mr. Trump is there?

RIDEOUT: I am going to protest him even coming here, him even asking for black African-American voters, Latino votes, or anyone else for that matter. So we're going to let him know that we don't want him here. We don't want him as our president. And, bottom line, you shouldn't be coming asking for our votes after the way you have treated the black African-American culture.

BALDWIN: Understand, and I've had a number of people on my show who don't like Mr. Trump, but is it not absolutely fair and appropriate of Donald Trump to - listen, he's been criticized for speaking to African-Americans from mostly white audiences and finally he's going to the black community. Can't you give him some credit?

RIDEOUT: How can I give him credit for the things that he has said about black African-Americans, Latinos, gays, lesbians, the things that he has said is not a peaceful talk. He's trying to build walls and we're trying to build bridges. We're trying to bring peace into the community, in to our nation. We have enough terrorist attacks going on to have a person like this come and to cause havoc all over America, which he has done. If you notice, at every one of his presidential meetings or delegates or wherever their conventions, wherever they go, there's always a fight. It's always a race move, black on white, white on black, and he absolutely does -

BALDWIN: But he did recently express regrets, reverend. He expressed regrets and the fact that he is coming to Detroit with Dr. Carson, who grew up in that city.

RIDEOUT: Yes. Yes, but he - he - he regrets it only because he saw that he's down in the polls. He regrets it only because now he sees that he's losing and he sees that he's almost out. He has his own Republican Party against him. He has people saying that he's crazy. One of the things that I look at, out of the mouth of fools pours out foolishness. For you to tell the black African-American race, if black lives matters, go back to Africa, that is an insult on me, that is an insult on America, and that is not the type of president that we need in office. And anybody that follows this kind of man, it speaks of their character too as well.

BALDWIN: Reverend W.J. Rideout there, pastor, All God's People Church, thank you, sir, for your voice. We'll be listening to see what Mr. Trump says Saturday. We'll cover all sides of it. Thank you so much for coming on today. It was an important perspective to share.

RIDEOUT: Thank you. But also if - if I'd like to add, that he also needs to stand up for the 15 and the union, for a fair wage for the poor people in our community, and he's not doing that.

BALDWIN: Understand.

RIDEOUT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Understand. Reverend, thank you. I appreciate it.

Let me bring in my panel. Ana Marie Cox is back with us today, senior political correspondent for MTV News, Betsy McCaughey is here, a Trump supporter and former New York lieutenant governor and senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, and Ryan Lizza, he's with us today, CNN political commentator and works for "The New Yorker" out of Washington, D.C.

So welcome to all of you.

And I know there's a lot to get through and I know you were just listening to my last interview and I was watching you ladies out of the corner of my eye. But, Ana Marie, let's actually start with the medical records and the doctor and this letter here that, you know, that Mr. Trump's doctor admittedly said was rushed and writing it in a limo and -

ANA MARIE COX, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, MTV NEWS: Yes. That he felt anxious while he was writing it as well.

BALDWIN: What did you - what do you make of this?

COX: Well, I - anxiety while being rushed is not something I look for in a medical professional, particularly. I also worry that someone who is tasked with this important a job would put it off to the last minute and write it in a limo. I mean, you know, other people have rehearsed all of the things that are kind of sketchy about this letter. I think that it bothers me that we're even having this discussion about the candidates' health a little bit. I'm not sure -

BALDWIN: Why?

COX: I'm not sure if a candidate's like physical health is one of the top priorities for me as a voter. We've had some actually pretty unhealthy presidents that have made some really great decisions. Lincoln was no picture of health. JFK was not either. And we're not maybe talking enough about American's health.

BALDWIN: So, Betsy, why do you think they're focusing on it?

BETSY MCCAUGHEY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think it is important. I think that voters want to know that the people they choose to occupy the highest office in the land have the possibility, the potential to serve at least four years. What do we know about Mrs. Clinton? She suffered a head injury. She - and the - she has expressed, in her own words, that she short circuits things. Medical professionals have raised issues about post-traumatic stress syndrome because of the head injury. And we know - we see her occasionally needing help, for example, making it up the stairs.

[14:10:12] COX: Can we say that -

BALDWIN: Go ahead. That's totally debunked, by the way.

MCCAUGHEY: So that's a reasonable -

COX: Can we say - can we say -

BALDWIN: That's not fair.

COX: Can we say that these medical professionals that have said these things -

BALDWIN: Yes.

COX: Are people who have not examined her.

BALDWIN: Yes.

COX: People who are not experts in the field.

BALDWIN: That's not fair. That's unsubstantiated.

COX: It is completely unsubstantiated. You cannot pay their medical -

MCCAUGHEY: I've seen those photographs. I've seen photographs of her needing help going up the stairs. People grabbing her elbows.

BALDWIN: OK, we're not - she tripped. She trips. She tripped. We're not -

COX: Yes.

MCCAUGHEY: But there nothing wrong with knowing that our candidates are healthy. In fact, when I ran for lieutenant governor, I was required by the party in New York to have a full physical and disclosure it to them -

COX: Well, she's released -

MCCAUGHEY: The full physical and disclosure it to them to assure the Republican Party of New York state that I was capable of serving for four years. And I was decades younger than Mrs. Clinton. BALDWIN: But here - here's what I'm wondering, Ryan Lizza, and let me

just ask you this question because when I immediately also saw that Mr. Trump wanted - he says, you know, I'll give you my detailed medical records, Hillary Clinton, you disclose yours. When we talk about records and disclosures, don't you think that the voters are also going to think of the other two words, tax returns?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. She'll - she'll - she'll probably throw that back.

MCCAUGHEY: Would you like me to answer -

BALDWIN: No, I'll get back to you.

MCCAUGHEY: OK.

LIZZA: But, gosh, I thought that that was a pretty good deal that Trump threw out there. I think everyone would benefit if the two candidates actually did that, right? So far Hillary Clinton has released a lot more medical information than Donald Trump has. From Trump we just have that - the silly letter from his gastroenterologist. But it's kind of a nice offer that he's throwing out there. I haven't seen the Clinton campaign's response.

BALDWIN: We'll look for a response.

LIZZA: But it would be interesting to know more. They're both - look, they're old. These are candidates who are on the older side. I disagree with Ana Marie a little bit about this. You know -

BALDWIN: You want to know how they're doing if they're going to take the highest office in the land?

LIZZA: I want to know. I want to know their health. Look - yes, he's - you know, he's not exactly in - he's - he's - they're both older candidates and why - why not. We should know everything about them that we can if we're going to lend them as much power as the president gets.

I will say, Betsy, it's really disappointing to hear you get involved with these conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton's health from watching clips on YouTube.

MCCAUGHEY: No theories, just raising the issue.

LIZZA: I mean that - I know, but that's like when psychiatrists come on and diagnose Trump as being, you know, mentally unstable without actually having him under their care.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LIZZA: I mean I'm assuming you're not a physician and I - we should really leave that out of the conversation.

MCCAUGHEY: No, I - I think that I'm just expressing my view as a voter, that we would like the information. LIZZA: I know, but, well -

MCCAUGHEY: I think I'm agreeing with you, Ryan.

LIZZA: Liking the - liking the (INAUDIBLE) is one thing, but saying, oh, she needs help going up the stairs, so there's something wrong, I just -

BALDWIN: Yes, we're not -

LIZZA: I think that's silly.

BALDWIN: We're not. With all due respect, we're not going there.

COX: I mean I do agree with Ryan, that this is a great deal that Trump threw out. I wish he would do the same with his tax returns, you know. And I also agree with Ryan that it's just as irresponsible for people to diagnose Trump's health. Although I will say, his doctor did say he tested positive for every test and there is a psychopath test. So perhaps that's one of the many ones -

BALDWIN: Ana Marie, (INAUDIBLE), you've got to play fair.

(CROSS TALK)

BALDWIN: Play it fair.

COX: It might be one of the test he's talking about.

MCCAUGHEY: I'd like to address the issue of the tax returns.

BALDWIN: Go for it and then I want to talk about this big ad buy.

MCCAUGHEY: That - because almost all politicians call for tax returns. They almost all pay the top rate in their income bracket because politicians - you look at their income tax return, it's paid speeches and book royalties, usually books about themselves, whereas people who are in business have a very -

COX: (INAUDIBLE) -

MCCAUGHEY: Just a moment - have a very different kind of tax return. They employ the deduction that Congress has created to encourage people to invest and build - property tax deduction, investment tax credits, capitals gains rates. And for that reason, almost all business people pay lower than the maximum rate. And what's going on here is something politicians have rigged (ph). It's called tax shaming. They seem to imply that someone who pays less than the maximum rate (INAUDIBLE) -

COX: Are you - are you asserting that you know - are you asserting that you know how much tax he paid? Because that would be news.

MCCAUGHEY: Of all the law requires. No. Well, what I'm asserting is this.

BALDWIN: That would be news.

MCCAUGHEY: I'm asserting this. I'm asserting this. That it is preposterous to suggest that someone who pays more than the law legally requires them to pay is somehow more virtuous. But that is exactly what happened with Mitt Romney.

BALDWIN: So we - we just don't know.

MCCAUGHEY: I urge Donald Trump not to release his tax returns because we will spend the rest of this campaign picking it apart.

BALDWIN: But you - you know - Betsy, but we know that this is going to come up. It is September 25th (ph) and they are standing there at (INAUDIBLE) University -

MCCAUGHEY: I hope he doesn't do it.

BALDWIN: Hang on, hang on, hang on.

Ryan Lizza, I mean how is Mr. Trump - because you know Hillary Clinton is going to bring this up. How - what do you think will be his response or his new one liner on why he's not going to do it?

LIZZA: Well, I think Betsy's kind of hit on it there. The things other Trump surrogates have said, I think Eric Trump actually said, they don't want to release it because they don't believe that journalists know enough about taxes to fairly report on it. They don't want to release it because they don't want to create a campaign issue. I mean, you know, I think he's - he's basically decided that whatever is in the tax returns, it will be a bigger political problem for him than just dealing with the fact that he's not being transparent about it. And so he's gotten this far without releasing - releasing them. I doubt very much he's going to do it because he's made a strategic decision here that the benefits of keeping them secret outweigh the costs.

[14:15:23] BALDWIN: OK, Ryan and Ana Marie and Betsy, thank you. Come back. We'll do more of this.

MCCAUGHEY: Yes.

BALDWIN: Here we go. It's almost Labor Day. It's almost the final stretch. Thank you all so much.

Just ahead here, she is Hillary Clinton's closest aide and now Huma Abedin announcing she has separated from her husband, Anthony Weiner, over a new sexting scandal. We'll tell you what we know.

Also ahead, a star NFL quarterback defending his refusal to stand up during the national anthem at a preseason game. Hear his new explanation for why he chose not to stand and we'll have both sides in this raging debate.

And a mother of four shot and killed in Chicago over the weekend while pushing her newborn three weeks of age in a stroller. Killed for absolutely no reason. She is also Dwayne Wade's cousin. Now her mother is speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They want their mom - their mom. And it just hurts to hear kids saying they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives any more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:16] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Despite the public anger, the national backlash, the name calling, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is doubling down on his protest against police brutality. He has told reporters he will stand up to racism by sitting out the national anthem at games going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN KAEPERNICK, 49ERS QUARTERBACK: I'll continue to sit. I'm going to continue to stand with the people that are being oppressed. To me, this is something that has to change. And when there's significant change and I feel like that flag represents what it's supposed to represent and this country is representing people the way that it's supposed to, I'll stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now he is being called anti-American, anti-military and, in some cases, people have used racial slurs towards him.

So let's discuss. Let me bring in two very different voices. CNN sports contributor Hines Ward, who played ball for a number of years, and NFL national league writer for "The Bleacher Report," Mike Freeman.

So, fellows, welcome.

And, Hines, I actually wanted to start with you because from what I understand, you know, you say you personally don't agree with him, his choice to sit out the national anthem. You, you know, have a father who was in the military, so this is - this is also personal for you. Talk to me.

HINES WARD, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Yes, it is. But, you know, I just think he's going about it the wrong way. There's other areas - there are better ways that he can go out and effect change. He can do it through social media. You can donate your entire salary for the cause. I mean there's just other ways.

So - but protest on your own time. Don't bring in the organization of your teammates because it can become a distraction, not only to your teammates, but for the organization because each and every day the goal is to try to win a Super Bowl. And you don't need any distraction. And each and every day these guys are constantly being asked, hey, what do you think about Kaepernick's, you know, his antics or his actions or his beliefs.

BALDWIN: You know, on the flip side, and, Mike, I know you're one of the folks who's pointed out the parallels to Mohamed Ali back in '67 when he refused - you know, he didn't want to be drafted to the Vietnam War, and you had written, "if you celebrated Ali but condemned Kaepernick, then you never fully understood Ali because they are saying the exact same thing." Explain that for me.

MIKE FREEMAN, NFL NATIONAL LEAD WRITER, BLEACHER REPORT: Well, first, I greatly respect Hines Ward. He's a great player, going to the Hall of Fame one day. But I couldn't disagree more mainly because when is the right time to protest? There's no right time. You're supposed to make people uncomfortable and make them think. And there's no bigger platform than the NFL, than what Colin Kaepernick did. He did what he's supposed to do, draw attention to a problem that is building up in him for a long time. I know players that know him, you can see on his social media footprint, he's been thinking about this for a long time and has been bothered like a lot of people, a lot of Americans, a lot of African-Americans.

And as a guy that served in the military myself, I was just a regular army grunt, I don't necessarily like the methodology, but I understand the methodology. You're trying to draw attention and there's no good time to do it. No matter how he did it, he would have been criticized. And, you know, as somebody that was in the Army, I like what he did because I joined - one of the reasons I joined was to help so guys could do what he did. I want people to be able to celebrate our ideals, our beliefs and this is one of the ways to do it, even if you don't like it.

WARD: But - but, Mike -

BALDWIN: Yes, you know - go ahead, Hines. I mean he says he respects the military. This isn't about - this isn't about that. But go ahead, Hines.

WARD: But could you imagine, you know, the opening day of the NFL kicks off September 11th weekend. Now this is - we're celebrating the 15th anniversary of 9/11. Could you imagine the distraction of what the organization and the teammates will have the - the backlashes that they are going to get for Kaepernick's action when he doesn't stand for the national anthem during the weekend of the opening of the NFL? Can you imagine the backlash that he's going to receive from that?

FREEMAN: I would - I would answer it, Hines and Brooke, this way. I'll answer it this way. There's going to be - if he keeps doing it, if he's going to be on the team - and I don't think he will be on the team opening day, but if he is, if he sits, and that happens, here's what I would say, the NFL has had lots of distractions. Their NFL player, as Hines knows, most NFL players are like Hines, good dudes, honorable men. But the NFL has also embraced domestic abusers, guys who had DUIs, some really bad guys and we don't say they're a distraction. The Cowboys signed a guy last year who had a severe, horrible domestic situation and they signed him and we didn't talk about it as a distraction. So there are worse things than -

[14:25:05] BALDWIN: But, let me also - I hear you and let me also jump in and say a lot of folks, you know, they look to athletes as role models and they want athletes to stand up for a particular cause. And it was actually - let me point to Jamel Hill (ph), who I - I respect, ESPN. She tweet, "like I always say, everyone wants athletes to speak up until they saying something they don't like."

Mike, quickly to follow up on one of your points, that he finally - you know, he's been around for - Kaepernick's been around for a while and some folks are point out, well, he's made his money, he's kind of on the bench. He may not even be at, you know, opening day. Like did - he's sort of in a position, some are inferring, that now he's safe and he can not stand. Your response to that?

FREEMAN: My response is, what he did is going to lead to probably - probably, in my opinion, and in talking to people around the league, the end of his career. So there's nothing safe about what he did if he's not going to play football again probably. I feel very strongly the 9ers are going to cut him. They're going to say it's for football reasons. I don't know if that's true. And he's going to have a hard time, Brooke, a hard time getting another job because of this. So there is still some sacrifice there. Yes, he's older. Yes, he's not as good. Acknowledged. I get it. But also, what he did will lead to the end of his career.

BALDWIN: Wow. Quickly, Hines. Quickly.

WARD: But, also, Brooke -

BALDWIN: Yes.

WARD: But could you imagine, though, if I came into CNN and just made a protest, I probably won't be here. So it's a time and a place for everything and for Colin Kaepernick, I think he made the wrong decision because doing it out there on the NFL field is not conducive for the league.

BALDWIN: I don't think this is over yet, gentlemen, at all. Hines Ward, Mike Freeman, thank you both so, so much. We'll talk again, I have a feeling.

Meantime, coming up next, we have to talk about Chicago today. Chicago, where a mother of four was murdered while pushing a stroller with her three week old. The victim happens to be the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade. His reaction to the shooting. Also, Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting, taking to Twitter. What he has tweeted coming under scrutiny. Did he politicize this tragedy in Chicago? Let's go there, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)