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Trump Threatens to Focus on Bill Clinton's Sex Scandals; Trump's Mic Problems Confirmed by Debate Commission; Clinton Smears Trump on 3 A.M. Tweets; Video Released of Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Man in El Cajon, CA; Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday in Virginia; Wells Fargo Under Fire for Illegally Repossessing Military Servicemember Cars; Harry Belafonte Discusses Music Festival, Presidential Race. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired October 01, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:00:08] DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do cherish women. I love women.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who gets up at 3:00 in the morning to engage in a Twitter attack against a former Miss Universe?

TRUMP: Working that microphone was a hell of a lot more difficult than working Crooked Hillary Clinton.

CLINTON: I'll say it again, a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not be anywhere near the nuclear codes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Donald Trump ramping up his attack on Hillary Clinton, threatening to focus on Hillary Clinton's husband's sex scandals in the next presidential debate. Previewing his future attack lines, Donald Trump told "The New York Times," quote, "She's nasty, but I can be nastier than she ever can be." This, as Republican leaders urge Trump him to get back on track after a late-night Twitter rampage where he ripped into the media and the former Miss Universe.

For more, I'm joined by CNN's Chris Frates.

Chris, Trump's latest comments come during a wide ranging interview with "The New York Times." What's likely to come?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You can count on that, Fred. It's Donald Trump trying to get back. He's had a terrible week. He was widely pained in his debate performance, allegations he called a former Miss Universe Miss Piggy after she gained weight. That's dog Trump all week. These bad headlines have put him on the defensive. In this "New York Times" interview, he goes on the attack. He called Clinton nasty, but said he can be nastier. He also suggested he is rethinking his support of a President Hillary Clinton should she win the White House. At the debate on Monday, he said he would absolutely support her. Now he's saying, well, we have to wait and see how this plays out.

So the other piece that's been interesting to watch in this "New York Times" interview is he's attacking Clinton for what he says was her role in her husband's sex scandals. I'll put up a quote he gave to the paper, quote, "Hillary Clinton was married to the single greatest abuser of women in the history of politics. Hillary was an enabler as she attacked the women Bill Clinton mistreated. I think it's a serious problem for them and something I'm considering talking about more in the near future."

As for his own extramarital activities, Trump told "The New York Times," he never cheated on his wives. When they asked him, what about Marla Maples, which that affair was the stuff of New York tabloid legend, Trump says, well, I don't talk about that.

The other thing to point out, Fred, this is not the first time we have heard Trump use this attack. He did it last December when Clinton called him sexist. But any time he's used this attack, it's been questioned as to its effectiveness, especially since it could alienate women voters.

So after a bad debate and this week of self-inflicted wounds, he trying to reverse the poll numbers. They are going in the wrong direction for him. Even some of his supporters are doling out a very public tough love lesson.

Look at what Newt Gingrich had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think what Trump has to understand is he's either got to sing, "I've Got to be Me," or he's got to order new song, "I've Got to be President." They are not the same song. He has to become much more disciplined. For a while there, I thought he turned a corner. This last week, I think has been a lost week, a week that hurt him, which has shaken his own supporters. You can't tweet at 3:00 in the morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Newt Gingrich calling a new tune for Donald Trump, saying he can't be singing "I've Got to be Me," he needs to sing, "I've Got to be President." He has to get back on message -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Chris Frates, thanks so much.

For more, I'm joined by Jamie Weinstein, senior writer for "The Daily Caller"; and CNN politics reporter, Eugene Scott.

Good to see both of you. Eugene, despite the advice from Newt Gingrich to change his tune

because he's turning off supporters, Donald Trump has this interview, he tweets, you know, trying to give people a warning signal of what he is going to do in this presidential debate, number two. Doesn't he almost have to follow up and do exactly as he says he is going to do, which is try to degrade Hillary Clinton by way of her husband's transgressions?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I think there are some supporters of Donald Trump who want him to move in that direction. I think it's very important to remember that those on the Trump train are a pretty broad base of conservatism. Some are backing the candidate because they support Mike Pence and want something more mild and more tempered. There are some of those who want to see Donald Trump follow through with what he said. It remains to be seen what will happen moving forward. But we have debates on both sides and they can take interesting different terms.

[13:05:18] WHITFIELD: We have the vice president debate three days away. Jamie, I wonder if all of this, while it may be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, this is kind of setting the stage for a direction that the vice presidential debate discussions can go. Does it make it harder for their running mates?

JAMIE WEINSTEIN, SENIOR WRITER, THE DAILY CALLER: I think everyone is thinking this is setting the stage for the vice president debate, it's going to be a big letdown. It will be a tamer debate to be one where viewers are going to watch and go, why aren't these cants the vice president contenders? I don't think Mike Pence wants to sully his career any more by going in and attacking Bill Clinton's 1990s sex scandals. I'm not sure he's going to take that direction, even if directed by the Trump campaign to go there. I think it's going to be a tamer vice president debate.

WHITFIELD: One has to wonder if they have to play more clean-up duty. Earlier this morning, a former reporter from the "Philadelphia Inquirer" recounted a strong encounter she had with Trump in 1988.

Before we play it, a warning it does contain graphic, offensive language.

Listen to what was said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LIN, FORMER REPORTER, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Working in the Wall Street office of the "Philadelphia Inquirer," I got a phone call. The women said, "Hold for Mr. Trump," and Mr. Trump began to yell at me. He told me I had (EXPLETIVE DELETED) for brains, told me I worked for a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) newspaper, and what sort of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) was I writing? I was stunned. He hung up. He called my boss in Philadelphia and treated my boss to the same sort of rant. But then he added, he referred to me as the "C" word, a word I won't use, Michael, because, in my opinion, it is the worst language to refer to a woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We apologize for having to allow those words to play.

But the thinking also is if you hear a lot of bleeps, you don't get an idea of what she was saying, what she did say on a live program today on Michael Smerconish.

So, Eugene, with that having been said, this speaks to character, or Donald Trump, his behavior and, I mean, we are talking about the highest, you know, job of the land here. So, is this fair game for these candidates to have to explain away or speak to this kind of behavior even if it was in 1988?

SCOTT: I think voters would say it is fair game because a huge percentage of the electorate are women and interested in how these candidates have spoken about women in the past and how they plan to move forward in addressing issues related to women voters. This is not the smoothest week for Donald Trump related to comments about women when you factor in the tweets in reference to a former Miss Universe. But also important, we talked about how these words affect women voters. A lot of times, we forget allies are a big part of demographics. It's not just women who are concerned about how candidates address women voters. Men care, too.

WHITFIELD: Jamie?

WEINSTEIN: I think the viewers should know, clearly where this direction is going. I talked to Roger Stone, who is a long-time Trump adviser, who wrote the playbook of where Trump should go if he's attacked as a misogynist. They are going to try, if Trump makes that decision, to paint Trump -- Bill Clinton as a Bill Cosby-type character. It's not talking about sexual indiscretion. They are going to accuse him of being a rapist and Hillary Clinton was an accessory to that. That's where the Roger Stone-type wing of Trump world wants Donald Trump to take this. It's up to Donald Trump to decide if he wants to go that route. That is where, possibly, this is going to go.

I encourage listeners -- I have Roger Stone on my podcast talking about this. He's laying the playbook where it could go. It's up to Trump if he wants to go that route.

WHITFIELD: We heard from Donald Trump during the primary, he talked about Hillary Clinton as being an enabler. It's not Bill Clinton running for office. Jamie just underscored the route in which Donald Trump could potentially take this, that Hillary Clinton is also to blame, in part, for these transgressions of Bill Clinton.

WEINSTEIN: That's what the playbook is there. Whether that's smart politics, whether there's truth about it, that's a different question. I think it's terrible politics. I don't think it will work for Donald Trump. That is the playbook out there and that is what Donald Trump has to decide if he wants to take the playbook and run with it.

(CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: I will say --

[13:10:08] WHITFIELD: Go ahead, Eugene?

SCOTT: I will say we had Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, on "New Day," and he said, wherever Donald Trump is planning to take his attacks on this issue, the Clinton campaign will be prepared. So it seems as if they are studying, preparing for him to take it in this direction, even if they don't want it to go there.

WHITFIELD: Eugene Scott, Jamie Weinstein, thank you so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

SCOTT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, one down, two to go. Donald Trump gives his thoughts on this past week's debate, and a little bit more on what he is planning for the next showdown.

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WHITFIELD: A live picture right now at Longwood University in Virginia, in three days, the first vice presidential debate will take place there. So, Tuesday night Senator Tim Kaine and Indiana Governor Mike Pence will face-off. You will see it live here on CNN. Coverage starts at 4:00 eastern time.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he may not need to prepare any differently for debate number two. Trump told "The New York Times" that he was preoccupied with the microphone during Monday's face-off with Clinton. He said, quote, "I spent 50 percent of my thought process working the mic."

CNN political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is live from Washington.

Brianna, the debate commission admits there were some problems.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We are trying to get a sense of what those are. They haven't put out many details. Certainly, in fairness, at this level, the microphones should be working. What's unclear is whether it affected anything Donald Trump would have been aware of.

According to our producers, who were there in the debate hall, they said it sounded like it was an issue within the hall. That's what the commission said. They said it sounded like Trump might have been farther away from the mic and his audio was lower and they could hear it being bumped up during his answers. It didn't mean he was inaudible. He wasn't as clear to hear as Hillary Clinton was. Whether Donald Trump, up on the stage, was aware of that, it's unclear.

He says he was. He's blaming, his debate performance, which, 2:1, people said Hillary Clinton beat him, he's pointing a finger at the microphone. We know the 80 million or so people who watched it -- that's just on television. They watched it live-streaming as well -- there was no issue with that. The way the microphones were going out to television and live feeds, there was no issue with that -- Fred?

[13:15:45] WHITFIELD: In the meantime, Hillary Clinton seized on a different kind of opportunity, talking about his late-night or early- morning tweets, whichever way you want to look at it, and sort of keeping this issue alive in a different way.

KEILAR: That's right. Overnight, thursday into Friday, Donald Trump tweeted at 3:00 a.m. and again at 5:00 a.m., a few times, where he was telling people not to believe reports if it said some sources. Clearly he read a story and didn't like what anonymous sources were saying. Then he went on after Alicia Machado, who Hillary Clinton mentioned in a debate. There, he breathed life into the story yet again, on the fifth day of a headline that doesn't work well for Donald Trump.

The Clinton campaign loved this, Fred. This couldn't work out better for them. Because instead of talking about Hillary Clinton's vulnerabilities, they are looking at Donald Trump tweeting at 3:00 a.m., which is odd to many. They look at it as a gimmick, her team over night, at 3:00 a.m., or so, tweeted last night. They said, "It's 3:20 a.m., as good a time as any to tweet about national service." And it linked to a media story about national service. It was written by Hillary Clinton, where she is, you know, touting that.

What the Clinton campaign is realizing, and I think many of us are as well, and many around Donald Trump as well, Fred, is this is becoming a bit of a depressing mudslinging election. So, they are worried that is going to mean people aren't inspired to get out to the polls. She's trying to talk more in positive terms, trying to cast herself as the positive one, Trump is the negative one. That's why you saw her tweeting about national service, which is something she talked about on Friday at her rally as well.

WHITFIELD: Brianna, thank you so much.

KEILAR: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Hillary Clinton is getting an unexpected compliment from the running mate of one her opponents. Libertarian vice presidential candidate, Bill Weld, praised her qualifications in an interview on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WELD, INDEPENDENT VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not sure anybody is more qualified than Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Weld went on to say despite Clinton's qualifications, he still believes his presidential running mate, Gary Johnson, is a solid choice for U.S. president. Tomorrow, they will ask Gary Johnson about his running mate's

comments. Don't miss more with the conversation with the third-party candidate right here on CNN at 2:00 eastern time.

We'll be right back.

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[13:21:58] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A powerful category four hurricane is on the move in the Caribbean. Hurricane Matthew is packing winds nearly 145 miles per hour with the potential to drop up to 25 inches of rain in Jamaica and Haiti, and produce life- threatening flash floods and mudslides. Matthew is barreling toward Jamaica. Also ahead, Cuba and the Bahamas in its path. Florida and the entire east coast will be on guard in the coming days as we watch where this powerful hurricane decides to go.

Meantime, police in southern California releasing a new and troubling video of an officer-involved shooting of an unarmed black man.

We must warn you this video is disturbing.

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(EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(GUNFIRE)

(GUNFIRE)

(SCREAMING)

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WHITFIELD: The shooting happened in El Cajon, California, east of San Diego. One officer firing four shots, another deploying his taser. Police say the man, Alfred Olango, pulled out a vaping pen, or an E- cigarette, and pointed it at the officers. These are the images police released.

CNN's Nick Valencia has been following the latest on this shooting and joins me now for an update.

Let's talk about potential charges, where the threat was or the perceived threat.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These two officers have a combined 42 years experience on the force. These aren't rookie cops. There's no indication either one or both will be charged. As a matter of fact, the district attorney said, locally, if that happens at all, it will take time.

The focus right now in the community, these two tapes, a cell phone video and surveillance of the shooting of Alfred Olango that happened Tuesday. They are short in length, 90 seconds, and in the raw form. Protesters said all week long he was unarmed when police fatally shot him. Police say he used a vape pen, an E-cigarette, positioning it to imitate a gun and holding it in a shooting stance. Demonstrators don't see that. The video is difficult to see. A still photo, screen graph makes it clear what Olango is doing in the moments leading up to the fatal shooting. The public has asked the video be released all week long. They got their wish granted. The police chief in El Cajon explained why he decided to release the tapes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF DAVIS, CHIEF, EL CAJON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I outweighed that versus the need to put the information out for the rest of the community. We understood that that may be the case. It's far more important that we be transparent and release this video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: After the video was released, the demonstrations were peaceful. 200 people gathered around a memorial for Alfred Olango. Thursday night, starkly different, there were protesters disrupting traffic, breaking windows, and they assaulted a motorcyclist who happened to be in the area. They are upset. The fact he was unarmed is a fact that's not lost on demonstrators.

WHITFIELD: Why were police responding to him? What was the call in the first place? What did they know about the individual?

[13:25:] VALENCIA: The sister of Olango called the cops that afternoon, 50 minutes before, which also is upsetting demonstrators, saying her brother was acting erratically. There were also residents in that area saying they also called 911. When police showed up, they were within feet of Olango. He was acting bizarrely, they said, acting strangely, because his best friend had recently died. But the mother and the sister, when they called, said he was unarmed. Demonstrators upset about that, that he was unarmed. You see the still photo of the video, he's in a shooting stance, holding up a vape pen. Police say that could be used to imitate a small barrel gun. Demonstrators say they don't buy that and they are going to continue the protest even after the videos were released.

WHITFIELD: Nick, thanks so much for that.

VALENCIA: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

Meantime, Governor Mike Pence and Senator Tim Kaine are set to face- off in the first vice presidential debate. It could prove crucial to the campaign going forward. All of that, next.

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WHITFIELD: Hello, again. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We are three days away from the first vice presidential debate. Senator Tim Kaine and Governor Mike Pence will go head-to-head in Virginia on Tuesday.

To talk more about what we can expect, let's bring in CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Maria Cardona; also CNN political commentator and Republican strategist, Alice Stewart.

Good to see both of you ladies.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Fred.

[13:30:00] WHITFIELD: Alice, let me begin with you.

Is this going to be, in your view, a vice presidential debate where the running mates are trying to establish themselves or will they be in a position where they have to better define their running mates for president?

STEWART: I think we'll see a little bit of both. I had the privilege of getting to know Mike Pence throughout the primary. He is solid, grounded and professional candidate. I think he laid the groundwork in an op-ed yesterday on what he will say about Donald Trump saying he is not bound with ties of Washington and political correctness, similar to Ronald Reagan, who went on to become president. He's going to convey what he has come to see in Donald Trump. Tim Kaine, very likable and personable. He will do his best so make the case for Hillary Clinton. V.P. debates are very important. People need to know who would be the next president if, unfortunately, something would happen. We'll see a lot of folks tuning in.

WHITFIELD: A lot of people will tune in because that presidential debate, really was a blockbuster and people aren't quite sure what to expect with this one.

Maria, if you look at history and some of these vice presidential debates, they can be make-or-break. There can be real defining moments. Here is a reminder of a couple that were particularly remarkable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LLOYD BENTSEN, (D), FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy.

(LAUGHTER)

ADM. JAMES STOCKDALE, FORMER INDEPENDENT VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who am I? Why am I here?

(LAUGHTER)

SARAH PALIN, (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR & FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How long have I been at this, like five weeks?

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Maria, what could be anticipated between Kaine and Pence, in your view?

CARDONA: Because these are two lawmakers who have been Congress, hopefully this will focus a lot on policy. I think, if that is the case, then Tim Kaine will certainly try to underscore, you know, something that Hillary Clinton really started to do during the debate before she got under Donald Trump's skin, which is Donald Trump's business record and the fact he loves to talk about how great he is at creating jobs and how much he's going to make companies stay in the United States and bring back jobs, when the fact is he has own companies manufacturing Trump ties, Trump suits, Trump shirts in China and India and Mexico and in other foreign countries. I think those are the kinds of hypocrisy that Tim Kaine is going to try to underscore when it comes to the economy and foreign policy. We know Donald Trump has a huge hole there.

But I think it will be substantive. I think it will be something where both candidates will continue to try to me the case for the top of the ticket. And we'll continue to see the great contrast there is between the two candidates.

WHITFIELD: Alice, do you also see Tim Kaine would try to get the upper hand as it pertains to, you know, the Latino vote? The Clinton, you know, Kaine ticket would be more advantageous or better appeal since Kaine is fluent in Spanish.

STEWART: Sure. From his standpoint, that is a drawing card for him on the campaign trail, which is great. I hope we'll be able to delve into more of the issues they didn't get into in detail in the presidential debate --

WHITFIELD: Like what?

STEWART: I would like to think Mike Pence would be able to focus more attention on certainly the Benghazi scandal and the reason why more questions haven't been answered on that, and what's still concern for a lot of Americans are the missing e-mail that continue to plague Hillary Clinton. And why so many of her top advisers have been granted immunity and not being forced to answer questions that people need to know about where her missing e-mails are.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Is that a feeling that's what American voters want to hear more of? They want to hear more about that as opposed more from the campaigns about specific policy? Know who has the best policy when it comes to keeping America safe.

STEWART: Certainly, Americans want to know who has the best policy for keeping jobs in the economy. Donald Trump was able to lay out his vision for the future, which was very good, during the presidential debate. But there are still questions about the e-mails and the Clinton's secrecy around this and why she was able to put a server in her basement, and not be able to put classified information on a private server, which is completely unheard of. The American people are concerned about the possibility she compromised our national security and we don't have a lot of answers to those questions.

WHITFIELD: Maria?

CARDONA: What's so interesting about that, Fred, I'm sure Tim Kaine will bring it up, is that Benghazi has to be re-litigated. 13 committees had hearings on it. Hillary Clinton testified for more than 11 hours. Hundreds of thousands of papers have been given over to the Benghazi Committee chairman and millions of dollars of taxpayer money has been used. And what has come up? Absolutely nothing, a big fat nothing burger. The same thing with the e-mails, nothing there to move forward on.

Again, I think Tim Kaine will focus on the Latino outreach, which he and Hillary have a huge advantage on, LGBT outreach, because Mike Pence's record is horrific, women's outreach, because Mike Pence has a horrific record on that as well.

[13:36:02] WHITFIELD: We'll see what unfolds. Three days away, vice presidential debate

Thank you Maria Cardona and Alice Stewart. Appreciate it, ladies.

STEWART: Thank you.

CARDONA: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Watch the debate Tuesday night. CNN coverage starts at 4:00 p.m. eastern.

We're back in a moment.

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[13:39:52] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. So, this weekend in Atlanta, music artists John Legend, Dave Matthews and Common are performing at the Many Rivers to Cross music festival with a shared goal to help promote harmony and tolerance in America despite political, racial and cultural differences, helping to bring them all together, legendary actor, singer and activist, Harry Belafonte.

Before we talked about this project, I asked Belafonte, who endorsed Bernie Sanders in the primary, who he is backing now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY BELAFONTE, ACTOR, SINGER & ACTIVIST: Well, safe to say it's Hillary Clinton. I believe that -- I'm almost 90 years old and I have lived through many elections during the 20th century. I think America sits in the most critical space I have ever known our country to be. I think it's one thing to flippantly dismiss Donald Trump as some phenomena, some peculiar phenomena. American takes it seriously. I'm concerned about him, the distortions of his character, than the fact that obviously 13 million people that declared themselves committed to his ideology and committed to his philosophy. That's a big number. I spent many years here in Atlanta with Dr. King and the civil rights movement. WHITFIELD: You mentioned Dr. King. You were inspired by him to be

involved in the movement. When you look at young people today, who are part of a movement, there have been many evolutions of human rights, civil rights movements over the course of the years and you are seeing, instead, some of the movements, protest turn violent. What are your impressions of what you are seeing today?

BELAFONTE: For us to come to a place where, after all that was done, all the lives that were sacrificed, getting voting rights and accommodations for black people to have greater participation in our constitutional construct, something went wrong, and I think that we have lost traction and lost vision, and I think that America is in a regression. We are going back to behavior of the past.

WHITFIELD: How do you see this election potentially making a direct impact on the kind of climate, the tension that we are seeing, particularly as it pertains to race relations in this country right now?

BELAFONTE: I think America is clearly given a choice, what Hillary Clinton represents, and what Donald Trump represents. I don't think there's any ambivalence between the two ideologies.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about the Many Rivers to Cross festival, which brings you here to Atlanta. The evolution of this festival and, in part, it begins with Prince. We sadly lost him this year. He asked you, he really challenged you how to get musicians to play a role in helping to send a message of human rights.

BELAFONTE: His first interest was he was looking at a career shift. He wanted to know what to do with this rather impressive platform he possesses. I don't know enough. I have been really living in my own little space and doing my thing. He came to me from my point of view. He went to Baltimore, and in Baltimore seeing the content in that community, caused him to write a song. The very last album he did.

WHITFIELD: This was last year, fairly recent.

BELAFONTE: That's right. It's called "Baltimore." That was the beginning of a trajectory that he was on to write songs and involve himself.

WHITFIELD: You are challenging musicians in their song writing, aren't you?

BELAFONTE: Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are, in fact, civilizations moral compass and we are its radical voice. If the artists abandon instructing and inspiring, would lose a big part of our power. How do we instruct?

(SINGING)

BELAFONTE: Sing songs and speak of issue that inspire people and lift our communities to a better place to live.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [13:45:40] WHITFIELD: Belafonte said he was inspired by his friend and mentor, Dr. King, that one of the greatest gifts for the Constitution is the vote. Belafonte hopes Americans will use it to speak to differences in a democratic, peaceful way.

Coming up, more fallout from the Wells Fargo controversy. We are learning hundreds of military members had their cars illegally repossessed. Details after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Wells Fargo bank under fire again. The Illinois state treasurer says he is cutting billions of dollars worth of business from the bank. This comes as we learn Wells Fargo illegally repossessed cars of more than 400 military members.

Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, joining us from Cleveland.

Good to see you.

There you are.

And Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, joining us from Las Vegas.

Good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: So, Avery, let me begin with you.

Repossessions are unlawful under federal law for members of the military while they are deployed. So that is at the heart of the issue. The Justice Department filing a suit against Wells Fargo because that is what allegedly was done.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY & LAW PROFESSOR: Well, that's exactly right, the Service Person's Civil Relief Act, which has been around since 1940, but Congress changed the law, Fredricka, to give it some time teeth, and the Civil Rights Department brought suit against Wells Fargo on behalf of 400 active-duty military. Why? Because while they are deployed, the bank repossessed the car, leaving the families and children with transportation. It is utterly repulsive. So by using the law, they succeeded 48 hours ago in resolving the case, where each military member will get $10,000 to take care of whatever damages they've suffered. Frankly, it is not nearly enough. But the bottom line, they used this new law to protect the civil rights of the armed forces, and that's setting precedent with more cases to come.

[13:50:33] WHITFIELD: So, Richard, as it pertains to Wells Fargo recently, we had first the phony bank accounts, and now you've got these illegal repossessions. As the Justice Department pursues going after the bank, or even perhaps the state's prosecutors, who would they go after first? I mean, do you start with the CEO, work your way down? Or is there another route that would be taken?

RICHARD HERMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY & LAW PROFESSOR: I think they have to go after the banking license for Wells Fargo. It is one thing to give incentives to employees to open up new accounts and then we find hundreds of fake accounts being opened, and they get exposed on that, and now they are violating this federal statute and reposing these cars. In order to repossess these vehicles, Wells Fargo had to get a court order do it, and that's what they were doing. They got caught.

You know what, Fred, there are federal regulators who oversee Wells Fargo and other banks, and they have a blind eye to this. I mean, if you were a prosecutor and you want to get into a major investigation, I think Wells Fargo is a good place to start right now, because there is so much bad stuff going on there. Who knows what else is happening in violation of federal banking laws.

WHITFIELD: So, Avery, is this big enough or can this become big enough where potentially this could really threaten the longevity, the fitness, the overall fitness, the life expectancy of a Wells Fargo bank?

FRIEDMAN: Wells Fargo controls billions and billions of dollars. Frankly, given the fact that this case got resolved 48 hours ago and that John Stumpf, who is the CEO and president, is foregoing a $41 million bonus, and these families will get $10,000 each, take the $41 million from Stumpf and give it to the military families. That would give him $100,000, and frankly, I think that would be the fair and just way to resolve this kind of dispute, and build in safeguards so it doesn't happen again.

WHITFIELD: Could this potentially, Richard, mean a tip of the iceberg in terms of problems for Wells Fargo, because people were aghast at the phony bank accounts, but this is a whole new level? Is this prelude to more, other things?

HERMAN: Like I said, Fred, they're going to be under a microscope right now. In addition to paying the families $10,000 each, they had to pay the DOJ a $20 million fine. So you know, they're under a microscope right now. We found two things uncovered. This repossession, other banks have been caught doing that, too, Capital One, HSBC, so other banks do it. Wells, you know, they're just in the publicity right now, a lot of banking violations. It is not a few bad eggs here. I think it goes -- I think the CEO knew about this. I think people know what's going on there, especially the federal regulators, who are going like this, when they walk around Wells. There is a reason they're doing that. This is the investigation. Let's see what else they come up with.

WHITFIELD: We're going to leave it there.

Thank you so much, Richard, Avery. Great to see you.

HERMAN: Take care, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. The wait, finally over. Saturday Night Live is back with all new

Trump material tonight. A preview, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: She is a fire cracker, a real pistol. She is crazy, isn't she?

(LAUGHTER)

(LAUGHTER)

(LAUGHTER)

TINA FEY, COMEDIAN: It's what the mainstream media is spinning. Heads are spinning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:04] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. So "Saturday Night Live," known for its political sketches, from Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin" --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FEY: Thank you, Iowa. Oh, I wanted to take a break from my full-time career of writing things on Facebook --

(LAUGHTER)

-- to fly down here and lend my support to the next president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: -- to Larry David playing Bernie Sanders and Kate McKinnon playing Hillary Clinton. Tonight, the big reveal. Alec Baldwin takes the stage as the new Donald Trump.

Here is Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Expect Alec Baldwin to come down with a case of the sniffles Saturday night as he begins his gig opposite Kate McKinnon --

(MUSIC)

MOOS: -- as SNL's new Donald Trump, even though he is no fan of the Donald's.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Who wants a president who looks like he has been dipped in movie popcorn butter?

(LAUGHTER)

ELLEN DEGENERES, COMEDIAN & HOST, ELLEN: The tangerine tornado.

MOOS: Baldwin follows impersonators like Phil Hartman and Darrell Hammond.

UNIDENTIFIED COMEDIAN: Love thy neighbor as thy self, and like a good neighbor, stay --

MOOS: Baldwin has hosted SNL 16 times, but he never played Trump. We've seen him do everyone from Tony Bennett to a guy named Pete Sweaty.

BALDWIN: No one can resist my sweaty ball.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: But will Baldwin have a ball with Kate McKinnon.

KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN: They only want to talk about Donald Trump.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump? Isn't he like the one that's, ugh, you're all losers.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: The Donald himself is no stranger to SNL, dancing with chickens --

(SINGING)

MOOS: -- advertising Trump's house of wind in 2004, and the hotline bling last year.

(SINGING)

MOOS: This isn't the first time SNL hired someone to play a politician during an election year.

PALIN: You can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.

MOOS: Tina Fey twisted that line.

FEY: And I can see Russia from my house.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: How deeply --