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NFL Player Faces Controversy; Trump's Immigration Plan? Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 29, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:23]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue right along on this Monday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN. Thank you for being with me.

We start with this political tit for tat that has taken an unusual turn. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump raising questions about the health of their opponent. Trump issuing a challenge to Clinton on Twitter, saying: "I think that both candidates should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so. Hillary?"

Meantime, Hillary Clinton's campaign is raising new questions about the validity of this doctor's note written by Trump's personal physician declaring that -- quote -- "If elected, Mr. Trump would be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."

Now, much of the speculation swirling around some bizarre new admissions made by Trump's physician, including the admission that he felt rushed and anxious while he was writing this note, and all of that happening as we get word that Trump's on-again/off-again address on immigration is now on in Arizona in two days' time.

And even before the venue is decided, Trump is already reporting big crowds. But the big question here, what has changed, if anything, on his tough-talking immigration policy?

So, let's start there with Jason Carroll, CNN national correspondent who is there outside of Trump Tower here in Manhattan.

Listen, we spent many a day last week sort of talking about the softening and then the hardening of the Trump immigration stance. What are you hearing today?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, if you listen to what his campaign is saying, and by campaign, I mean Kellyanne Conway, who is his campaign manager, she says when it comes to this whole softening issue, perhaps there will be a softening on how he approaches his immigration policy, but certainly no softening of the policy itself.

So clearly there's some parsing of words here, because when you speak to his supporters, and I have spoken to many of them, as you know, Brooke, even Trump supporters say, look, we need more clarification here. So we are expected to get some of that clarification when he

delivers his immigration policy speech in Phoenix. And the unanswered questions for many of his supporters and critics alike seem to be a couple of things. First of all, what specifically happens to the estimated 11 million undocumented workers here in the United States?

Do you use a deportation force in order to move those people out of the country? Where are some of the specifics here? Hopefully, those specifics are expected, once again, when Donald Trump delivers the immigration policy speech. And that again is going to be in Phoenix on Wednesday. We're standing by.

BALDWIN: OK. Jason, thank you for that.

Let's start there on immigration and looking ahead to that speech. David Chalian is with us, our CNN political director, and Gloria Borger is joining us as well, a CNN chief political another.

So, let's just -- springboarding off of what we're hearing from Jim Acosta's reporting from this senior Trump campaign adviser on the 11 million, David Chalian, undocumented immigrants in this country, will they get some sort of legal status? It sounds like this adviser is saying they will not have a path to legalization, but that conversation would happen years from now. Can you clarify?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Sure.

For the last week, we have now heard, basically since the Hannity town hall in the middle of last week, Donald Trump and his advisers are now saying no citizenship, no legal status, amnesty. They want to make that really clear. This was after getting some blowback from conservatives, what Donald Trump himself described as a softening.

Brooke, what I think is really important is to pay attention to what that adviser told Jim Acosta is this notion of getting to a border security first place. This is something, by the way, that many Republicans for the last 10 years that this debate has sort of roiled the party and the conversation here in Washington, this has been a stance that many, many Republicans and, quite frankly, some Democrats have had, border security first.

Once the border is secure, then we can talk about what happens to the undocumented immigrants already here. It's kind of punting on what is one of the, you know, biggest issues surrounding this because you have these 11 million estimated folks to be here who are undocumented.

And, basically, it sounded like we were getting a little tea leaf reading here that he may just punt on that and just say I will discuss that after the border is secure.

BALDWIN: Punt, it sounds like, from having that conversation years from now.

Gloria, I want to hear from you, but let me just play one bit of sound. This is from Mike Pence over the weekend talking about Trump formulating this plan ahead of this immigration speech and saying, listen, he's acting like a CEO. Here he was.

[15:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R-IN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First off, let's be very clear first off. Nothing has changed about Donald Trump's position.

I think, at a certain level, it's very refreshing, because it's the Donald Trump that I see every day -- is, you see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people.

He is hearing from all sides. But I promise you, he is a decisive leader. He will stand on the principles that have underpinned his commitment to end illegal immigration in this country. And that's what people will learn more about in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Gloria, decisive leader, CEO, and to Chalian's point on the punt, what are you thinking?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, here's the difference between Donald Trump and every other presidential candidate that I have ever covered.

You're usually the CEO before you get into the race, so that you hear all points of view, you have been out there talking to voters for years, you come up with a policy, and then you say, this is my signature issue and this is where I stand on it.

Well, Donald Trump, we're now learning, is kind of the other way around. He came right out of the gate, he said build the wall, have a mass deportation force. And now he's listening to all these points of view, i.e., from perhaps independent voters, from people who weren't part of the Republican base that supported him so enthusiastically, and saying, OK, maybe we will now, if this reporting is correct, or his hint is correct, that maybe we will make it a two-prong process, which is why all these other Republicans that David Chalian is referring to him who have been talking about a process which is first secure the border and then let's figure what we do next, they have been talking about it for years.

So it's a difficult position for him vis-a-vis his base because what his base loved about him was that he was different from all of the other politicians. And you can make the case that maybe he isn't.

BALDWIN: OK. Again, that speech Phoenix immigration Wednesday, we will listen for that.

Meantime, what about this mega ad buy, the 10 million bucks from the Trump campaign, eight states and in this -- and I will play a snippet -- he's hammering Hillary Clinton not on some sort of -- one of her controversies, the Clinton Foundation or on the e-mails he's been talking about, but on the economy. Here's a piece of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: In Hillary Clinton's America, the middle class gets crushed. Spending goes up. Taxes go up. Hundreds of different jobs disappear. It's more of the same, but worse.

in Donald Trump's America, working families get tax release, millions of new jobs created, wages go up, small businesses thrive. The American dream achievable. Change that makes America great again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Again, David Chalian, this is the economy. He's not taking her on, on some controversial issue. This is an issue that every American cares about. A smart move?

CHALIAN: Listen, I think it's a smart move to talk about an issue that everybody cares about. There's no doubt about that. It's a tough ad to fact-check because there are not direct policies associated with each one of the promises of increased wages and all the sort of positive stuff at the end.

But, listen, I think you're seeing now in the first two ads, the first ad was on immigration, the second ad is now this ad from the Trump campaign. You're seeing this first painting a really dark, negative portrayal of what it would be like under Hillary Clinton and then the ad in the back half goes to this much more positive, under the Trump presidency, this is what it would look like.

And, Brooke, you were right to note the first ad only aired in four states, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania. This one adds Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, Colorado, Virginia. So now he is up to nine states and he's spending more money than he has put behind anything else this entire campaign season behind this ad.

I think it's probably a wise move to do so but, I think it also is going to inevitably invite the kind of scrutiny to his economy policies that perhaps he hasn't undergone yet.

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: But I think it's a smart move because he's got to give people a reason to vote for him, not just against her on the e-mails and everything else. And people feel like they haven't had a raise in 15 years in lot of those swing states.

And so he's trying to remind them why they ought to vote for him anyway in a positive sense, as opposed to just being against Hillary Clinton.

BALDWIN: What about also, Gloria, quickly, on the medical records, Trump not talking about the doctor, but just about the medical records and his challenge to Hillary Clinton, you release your detailed medical records and I will do my same?

BORGER: I think they both hold hands and do it at the same time. How about that, OK?

BALDWIN: Hold their nose and jump in.

BORGER: I think the more the merrier. The more information people can have before they cast a vote, whether it's on medical records or tax returns, I think you put it all out there when you're a presidential candidate.

[15:10:03]

BALDWIN: OK, Gloria Borger, David Chalian, thanks, you two. Appreciate it.

A star NFL quarterback defending his refusal to stand up during the national anthem. His new explanation for why, we will hear two very different sides and we will debate that.

Also ahead, police apologize to an award-winning rapper here for the behavior of some of their officers after he had been held up at gunpoint. He will join me live on what exactly happened and what he thinks of Trump's tweets about what's happened in Chicago and the potential politicization of the violence.

And the former FOX News host making sexual harassment allegations is demanding Bill O'Reilly and several other top executives over there take a lie-detector test. Can she do that? We will discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

[15:15:00]

Two brothers charged in the death of Dwyane Wade's cousin are due in court today. Wade's relative is 32-year-old Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four. She was one of 18 people murdered in Chicago just over this one weekend.

This far this year, the city of Chicago has witnessed more than 450 killings. And police say Aldridge's death showcases a chronic problem in the city, repeat offenders, who, according to the police superintendent says -- quote -- "don't care who they shoot."

The superintendent also has compared that Chicago -- complained, rather, that Chicago officers get resistance from members of the community. Some activists say that is because people have just learned not to trust the cops.

One Grammy Award-winning rapper says he understands firsthand why that is. He is Rhymefest, whose real name is Che Smith, recorded his experience after according to Che he was robbed at gunpoint in his own car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHE "RHYMEFEST" SMITH, RAPPER: What did the supervisor say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asked you to leave.

SMITH: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you are not -- you were not giving the information that we needed to take...

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: What information do you need?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir...

SMITH: What information do you need? I would like to give you the information to report that I have been robbed this morning.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's using a camera.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't care.

SMITH: I'm asking you, I'm asking you, what information do you need to report that I have been robbed this morning?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was this officer asking you?

SMITH: She asked me what happened, and I told her what happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quiet down.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: OK. I'm not. I'm using -- I am in shock because I just had a gun to my head. So, she asked me what happened, and I told her what happened. I would even like to tell you what first happened.

When I walked through the door and she asked me what was wrong, she kept eating, she kept playing "Candy Crush."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That voice, here he is, Che Smith. Che Smith, otherwise known as Rhymefest, joins me now.

My goodness, Che, first of all, are you OK? How you doing?

SMITH: I am fine. And thank you for having me.

This isn't even about me, because I'm going to be OK.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SMITH: But I think the reason I'm here today, is it about Joe Smith, John Smith, Sharon Smith and the other people of our communities that try or have tried to report crimes, to be met with, leave, we're not interested.

BALDWIN: First, let me take you back two steps just for folks who are watching who don't know what happened. Tell me what happened when you were in your car.

SMITH: Yes.

Well, I'm in my car. I do music for a living. I'm listening to music in the car. I put it into park. Many of the cars nowadays, my car at least, when you put it in park, the doors unlock automatically. So, my doors had unlocked. I didn't pay attention. I was writing music.

Someone moments later jumped in my car, put a gun to my head and said, "Today, you're going to die."

I was shocked.

I said: "What do you want? What do you want from me?"

He: "The money. I want all of it."

I gave him my wallet. He pointed the gun. He said: "You don't know how close you got to getting shot." And he exited the vehicle.

Now, this guy exited the car and left -- he was sitting on top of my bag that had checks, that had laptop, that had a lot of things. He didn't take my phone. This young man, obviously, was not a professional robber. This young man was desperate and wanted my wallet that had $3 in it and threatened to kill me over a $3 wallet.

BALDWIN: Three dollars. Three dollars in your wallet. That's what he takes.

When I read about this and when I read about this when you took to Twitter and when you said essentially to him -- and I want you to tell me -- you could have offered this man a job. What -- how did you perceive this?

SMITH: Well, you know, I work in the community.

You know, I don't only do music. One of the things with rappers, a lot of time,s we talk about making it out the hood. We want to make it to escape it. I don't believe in that motto. I have taken an oath to make it to rebuild it.

And so we have a community program called Donda's House, where I help young peopled 14 through 24 in creative writing. I teach creative writing for Donda's House. We work in the arts with our young people. And so -- and many times, we help to employ these young people.

And so, you know, to this young man -- and I will say it now -- if his grandma is watching, if he -- his mom or dad or he's watching, call me now. Return my I.D. Return my wallet. Let's talk. I love you. I love you.

You know, I understand that Chicago is in a fragile state. I understand that these are desperate times. But there are people in our communities.

This is not what Donald Trump says it is. There are people in our communities with opportunities for young people if they just knew where they were and how to reach out.

And I'm reaching out to this young man. If he's watching, I really -- I pray that we can have a conversation. I'm not angry with you. And I'm not mad at you. And I love you. But, moreover, I think the problem that I had was when I tried to report the crime . That was the bigger problem, to me, was what happened...

[15:20:09]

BALDWIN: You had a hard time reporting it?

SMITH: ... when I walked in to the police station, and the first police officer was eating cookies, playing "Candy Crush."

And said: "I want to report a crime."

She said: "Hold on one moment."

She kept playing her video game.

I said, "Really, that's what we're going to do? We're going to play video games?"

Another officer called me over. She told me to put both of my hands on the table so that she could feel secure. I did that. She then said to me, as I was telling her about the crime, she said: "He didn't get your phone. He must not have been that good of a robber."

At that point, I was fed up.

I said: "You know, she's stuffing her mouth with cookies and playing candy crush. You're patronizing me."

No one was writing a report. At that point, the officers got really upset, told me, don't talk about any of the other officers, told me not to ask questions, because I asked to see a superior. I asked them if I could talk to their sergeant.

She told me that they ask the questions, not me. And the sergeant was right behind them. I didn't see him standing in the corner. The sergeant said: "You know what, as a matter of fact, if you want to mouth off to my officers," he said, "why don't you just get the F out of here and leave? No report for you today."

At that point, I turned on the camera. Many people wonder, why did you start the video in the middle? Because no one should walk into a police station and begin recording. That's not a natural thing. And I only began recording when I couldn't report my -- the crime.

BALDWIN: I appreciate you sharing the recording. I appreciate your -- and it's pretty powerful, what you said a minute ago, about your love for this man who could have taken your life. SMITH: Yes.

BALDWIN: And let me ask you about one other thing, Che, before I let you go.

I know that, in addition, you talk about Chicago. You mentioned Trump a second ago. I know that you have said to Mr. Trump, who, by the way, we know is going to be in Detroit over the weekend speaking with an African-American reverend, speaking, as he says, to the black community.

You have said to him, come to Chicago. I will walk you through the streets.

Have you, A, heard anything from the Trump camp, and, B, what would you say to Mr. Trump?

SMITH: I would say this.

It's interesting. When political season starts, everybody grabs their minister and says, I'm talking to this minister

They're -- we love our pastors. We love our ministers in our community. But there are other people in the community than just the ministers or just the minister you pick.

What I would say to Mr. Trump is, please come talk to us, with us. Talk with us and not to us. Today, Mayor Rahm Emanuel reached out and said that he apologized on my behalf.

Again, we have a politician who is a Democrat that is talking to me and never reached out to talk with me. I would say to Trump what I would say to Rahm Emanuel. Can we please get together for real this time and have a conversation about what's really happening in our communities? I can guarantee you, Trump could walk down my block and not get shot.

BALDWIN: Hmm. Che Smith, thank you.

SMITH: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

SMITH: Have a good day.

BALDWIN: You, too.

Coming up next: Top Clinton aide Huma Abedin stood by her husband, Anthony Weiner, during his sexting scandals, but today she announced their marriage is over. She intends to separate after the former congressman, former mayoral candidate faces new allegations of sexting with a woman who is not his wife.

Plus, a star NFL quarterback defending his refusal to stand up during the national anthem. His explanation for why, we will debate that. We have got both sides. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:17]

BALDWIN: He's being called anti-American, anti-military, pretty much anything but an NFL superstar.

But despite all of that, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is doubling down on his protest against police brutality. He is telling reporters that he will stand up to racism by sitting out the national anthem at football games going forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN KAEPERNICK, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS QUARTERBACK: I will continue to sit. I'm going to continue to stand with the people, that being the press.

To me, this is something that has to change. And when there's significant change, and I feel like that flag represents what it is supposed to represent, and this country is representing people the way it's supposed to, I will stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, people are all kinds of split on this one.

You can see some of these videos. Fans are torching his jersey. Some of them are playing the national anthem in these videos while doing so, some even calling him racial slurs.

So, let's have that discussion and debate. CNN political commentator and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus Angela Rye is with us, and Marine veteran and former CIA operative Sergeant Drew Dwyer is here.

So, Angela, welcome back.

Drew, nice to meet you. Thank you for your service.

SGT. DREW DWYER (RET.), U.S. MARINE CORPS: Pleasure. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

BALDWIN: Let me just begin with you.

You say he is not only disrespecting the country. He's punishing everyone. What do you mean?

DWYER: Yes, ma'am.

We fight for the right to protest. That's fine. But, in this case, sitting down is not the right way to do it. He needs to take activism, reach out to community members in Chicago, possibly Louisiana, and other ways that isn't so disrespectful to us veterans.

BALDWIN: And you say it's disrespectful for veterans because why specifically? Because it's the national anthem, which -- what does that mean for you?

DWYER: It means a lot.

Like, right now, in Iraq, in Al Anbar province, the Devil's Den, there are soldiers right now saluting to the flag going down at night. And for him to be sitting there, this guy makes more in one game check than I made in four years...