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Trump Tax Bombshell; Baldwin Takes on Trump Role; Kim Kardashian Robbed at Gunpoint. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired October 03, 2016 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:31:23] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.
It is mind-boggling, really. Donald Trump loses almost a billion dollars in 1995 and then some experts say he hasn't paid income taxes in 18 years. Bernie Sanders lashing out over that report in "The New York Times."
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So Trump goes around and says, hey, I'm worth billions. I'm a successful businessman. And I don't pay any taxes. But, you, you make $15 an hour, you pay the taxes, not me. That is why people are angry and want real change in this country.
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COSTELLO: Trump's tax controversy's largely overshadowing leaked audio tapes of Hillary Clinton talking about Bernie Sanders' supporters.
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HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Some are new to politics completely. They're children of the Great Recession and they are living in their parents' basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves, and they don't see much of a future. And so if you're feeling that you're consigned to, you know, being a barista or, you know, some other job that doesn't pay a lot and doesn't have much of a ladder of opportunity attached to it, then the idea that maybe, just maybe, you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing.
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COSTELLO: All right, so let's talk about that. Jeffrey Lord is here, a CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, and Symone Sanders is a CNN political commentator and former national press secretary for Bernie 2016. She is now a Hillary Clinton supporter.
Welcome to both of you. JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Happy Monday, Carol.
SYMONE SANDERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Carol.
COSTELLO: I told you, Jeffrey, there's no such thing as a happy Monday.
LORD: I know. Thirty-eight days to go, Carol.
COSTELLO: I know. I can't -- I can't -- I can't wait until it's over. I know a lot of other people are with me on that.
But let's talk about what happened over the weekend, Jeffrey. This billion -- almost billion dollar loss by Donald Trump. Some people saying he hasn't paid income taxes in 18 years. How does that say he's a great, successful businessman?
LORD: Carol, you know the thing that I find fascinating about this, we're learning this morning from a site called Zero Hedge that has lasered in on Hillary Clinton's much talked about tax returns that she always says how open she's ever been, and on page 17 of those tax returns for 2015, we find out that, oh, Hillary Clinton did exactly the same thing Donald Trump did. She had a loss, a claimed loss, of almost $700,000 and she used it as an excuse to get down her tax bill and not pay current taxes in 2015, meaning she used exactly the same device, albeit for less money, that Donald Trump did.
COSTELLO: Well, a lot of people do.
LORD: This is --
COSTELLO: A lot of people use that.
LORD: This is the problem, it's the tax code. It's the tax code.
COSTELLO: Right. Right. But in Donald Trump's new tax plan, there's nothing in there that would close that loophole.
LORD: Right. And I think that -- you could be right about that and maybe --
COSTELLO: Well, he said there's a rigged system. Why doesn't he fix it them?
LORD: Sure. Maybe they need to rethink this.
SANDERS: (INAUDIBLE), Carol.
LORD: I mean I personally think we should -- I mean I think the entire -- once you start getting into this kind of thing, and this is why all these special interests love the tax code the way it's written because they can get some loophole. And I don't mean Donald Trump. I mean, after all, --
COSTELLO: But his tax plan doesn't fix that.
LORD: (INAUDIBLE) -- what? I'm sorry?
COSTELLO: But his tax plan doesn't fix that. So what --
LORD: Well --
COSTELLO: And this is what I'm getting at, Jeffrey.
LORD: All right.
COSTELLO: So if Donald Trump's tax plan doesn't fix that loophole, what's to say once he becomes president of the United States that he will continue paying no income taxes?
LORD: Well -- well, Carol, first of all, he pays taxes. I mean there's no question about that or he'd be in jail. What he -- what he may have done here is what (INAUDIBLE) --
[09:35:07] COSTELLO: I'm talking about income taxes. I specified what.
LORD: What? I'm sorry?
COSTELLO: He does -- income taxes, that's specifically what we're talking about. Most Americans do pay income tax.
LORD: Right. But the tax code allows for them to do this. "The New York Times" didn't pay taxes in 2014. I mean they had an operating profit of something like $29 million or whatever it was and they got out of paying their taxes according to "Forbes" magazine. So, I mean, this is a problem with the tax code.
This is why people are so angry about this. They don't trust the IRS. They think special interests are telling Congress how to write all these loopholes in. They're loopholes that only if you're wealth, like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump can be taken -- or "The New York Times" can be taken advantage of. They are really upset about this kind of thing. And should be.
COSTELLO: Symone -- Symone, your thoughts? And I'm sure people are upset about these kinds of things.
SANDERS: They're very upset. You know, I've been alive longer than Donald Trump has apparently been paying income taxes. So I think people are upset because this is exactly what Senator Sanders was talking about in saying that this current system is set up to benefit those at the top. Meanwhile, people in the middle and at the bottom are left out and shafted.
Look, we don't know what Donald Trump has paid because he has not provided us with his taxes. But we do know this, is that Donald Trump is clearly only interested in policies that benefit people like him, which is why his tax plan doesn't include any of the things to right the system that you previously mentioned, Carol. So I think that is -- that is -- that's what genius is.
COSTELLO: But what about the -- what about the notion, Symone, that Jeffrey brought up. That, you know, a lot of wealthy people do this. This is -- this is -- this makes them good business people because they maintain their wealth even though they may have to declare bankruptcy one or two or three or four times.
SANDERS: You know, Carol, I think there's a difference between, you know, a tax loophole that, you know, saves you a couple hundred thousand and manipulating the system so you don't -- you apparently don't pay income taxes for 16, 18 years. That is a real difference and a real problem and that's why we need change in the system. So I would like to see Mr. Trump present a tax plan that addresses this issue, but I am hopelessly optimistic, even though I don't think that will ever happen.
COSTELLO: So, Jeffrey, Symone says she's hopelessly optimistic. So, A, will we see more of Donald Trump's tax returns and, B, will Donald Trump adjust his tax plan to include the closure of this particular loophole?
LORD: Yes, I honestly don't know about the second. As to the first, I've said repeatedly, I hope he doesn't put this out. I mean I think this is irrelevant here other than illustrating that the tax code has problems and the more rules and regulations you write, the more loopholes get written. This is the way Congress operates.
Hillary Clinton was a United States senator. She could have changed this stuff if she wanted to. She was the operating person in the government here, not Donald Trump. So all of a sudden --
COSTELLO: Yes, and I hear you, Jeffrey, but when your own candidate doesn't plan to change that, it sort of falls on -- like, you say, well, I guess it's a wash then.
LORD: Well, I really -- I really do think that this subject is going to be out there. I mean "The New York Times" brought it up and "The New York Times" themselves have used these kinds of advantages for themselves. So the argument rings hollow here, but I do think that there is sufficient outrage that we may get some changes, hopefully.
SANDERS: Well, Carol -- Carol --
COSTELLO: Symone, (INAUDIBLE).
SANDERS: I just want to note that if Donald Trump wasn't Donald Trump the billionaire and he was Donnie from the block and maybe had brown skin or worked -- or just worked a regular job, he would not be able to evade the system and not pay income taxes for 18 years. So this is a position of privilege. Everyday Americans don't have this provide that Donald Trump or "The New York Times," for that matter, has. This is something --
LORD: Or Hillary Clinton.
SANDERS: And this is something they're going to continue to talk about.
COSTELLO: All right, Symone Sanders, Jeffrey Lord, thanks to both of you. LORD: Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: You're welcome.
They only meet face-to-face one time. Pence and Kaine battle on the debate stage for their candidate. Who will win the night? The vice presidential debate coverage starts tomorrow 4:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, reality star Kim Kardashian robbed at gunpoint in Paris. How the gunman got into her private apartment.
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[09:43:22] COSTELLO: The hair, the tan, the pout, Alec Baldwin is the new "SNL" Donald Trump and he played it straight, repeating almost verbatim from this real Donald Trump.
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CLINTON: You call yourself the king of debt, you talk about leverage, you even at one time suggested that you would try to negotiate down the --
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Wrong.
CLINTON: National debt of the United States.
TRUMP: Wrong.
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COSTELLO: OK. So those interjections by Trump, well, they were ripe for the taking and Alec Baldwin took them.
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KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN: I mean, this man is clearly unfit to be commander in chief.
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR/COMEDIAN: Wrong.
MCKINNON: He is a bully.
BALDWIN: Shut up.
MCKINNON: He started the birther movement.
BALDWIN: You did.
MCKINNON: He says climate change is a hoax invented by China.
BALDWIN: It's pronounced China.
MCKINNON: He hasn't released his tax returns, which means he's either not that rich -- BALDWIN: Wrong.
MCKINNON: Not that charitable.
BALDWIN: Wrong.
MCKINNON: Or he's never paid taxes in his life.
BALDWIN: Warmer.
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COSTELLO: Chuck Nice is here, comedian and all-around funny guy. It was funny.
CHUCK NICE, COMEDIAN: I'm sorry. It's hilarious.
COSTELLO: And you're -- he really didn't even have to write a comedy sketch because really Alec Baldwin pretty much said what Trump said during the debate verbatim.
NICE: You know, that's almost the best satire is when you take what is supposed to be absurd and really all you do is reflect. And that's kind of what happened to Sarah Palin with Tina Fey, where, you know, she didn't actually write these ridiculous things. Much of what she said was verbatim, and that -- playing that side-by-side, to see that from the debate that Donald Trump actually acted just like this supposed character who is an absurd representation of Donald Trump is -- it feels damaging, in a way. And I'm sure there are some people who are Trump supporters are like, "Saturday Night Live" is very unfair, "Saturday Night Live" did not do a good job. But when you play them side-by-side, then what you see is that all they did was true satire.
[09:45:31] COSTELLO: I thought they were nasty about Hillary Clinton, too.
NICE: I do too. I thought -- I thought it did a --
COSTELLO: That's hard core, man.
NICE: I thought they did -- when she was just like, and my dad and he was like a drapery (ph) -- and he's relatable and so am I. Like, that's very funny. And what they did was they took the narrative that is, you know, surrounding Hillary Clinton and they stretched it out to an absurd place and it made it funny. And they did the same thing with Donald except Donald more closely reflects what they were doing, and it's hilarious, I'm sorry.
COSTELLO: There was -- there was another bit they did. You know, there was a rip on the "Family Feud" and it had like the Trump family and like the Clinton family and, well, you have to watch it. So let's watch.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump, what's the reason people give for being late?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What an interesting and wonderful question, Steve. May I ask my brothers for help?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALES: Yes, we are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Donald Junior, the brains.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Ivanka, the beauty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm Eric.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So they're obviously ripping on that, you know, that Twitter thing that went around with the Trump children being the children of the corn, right?
NICE: Yes, they're children of the corn, yes.
COSTELLO: But you brought up something interesting during the debate about the way some voters think about the Trump children now.
NICE: Oh, yes, because what happens with the Trump children is, when you think Trump children, what you're really thinking is Ivanka. It's like, wow, they're Trump children. They're so poised and graceful. That's Ivanka. You know, oh, the Trump children, they're so well spoken. No, that's Ivanka. And somehow Ivanka has become the entire umbrella that encompasses the Trump children. But when you actually separate her out, you're like, oh, what's up with the other two?
COSTELLO: Who are they?
NICE: And then you're like, wait a minute, it's the other three because there is a fourth one that's the Jan Brady of the Trump children --
COSTELLO: Oh.
NICE: That nobody ever talks about.
COSTELLO: Oh!
NICE: I'm sorry, that was --
COSTELLO: I thought Tiffany was charming at the RNC.
NICE: She was. She was wonderful. And I'm sorry. That was -- that was terrible of me to do that to Jan Brady.
COSTELLO: Yes, you know where you're going next.
So the interesting thing to me is, you know, on the Clinton family side, there was Bill Clinton --
NICE: Yes.
COSTELLO: But you didn't really see Chelsea Clinton. Is Chelsea Clinton kind of off limits for comedians?
NICE: Well, you know what -- what's funny is -- it's not comedians. First of all, she's boring as God -- I swear -- seriously, watching spackle harden is more exciting than watching Chelsea Clinton do anything. I'm sorry. Really. And, so, unfortunately, there's not a lot to work with there. Second to that, you know, the Clintons did a very good job, even to this day, of keeping Chelsea far enough on the edges that it's very hard to, you know, throw darts at her. So that's why.
COSTELLO: That's interesting, isn't it?
So when all is said and done and as the season goes along, do you think that it will make a real impact on the election?
NICE: If the Sarah Palin satire is any indication, I think what happens is, it invades your subconscious. It does not make a direct impact where people say, you know, I saw this sketch and now I think I'm not going to vote this way. It doesn't -- it doesn't work like that, but it does make a subtle, subconscious impact, yes.
COSTELLO: Chuck Nice, thanks for stopping by.
NICE: My pleasure.
COSTELLO: It's been fun. But you're in trouble later.
NICE: You know it.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, OK, this is serious stuff, it's about Kim Kardashian. She was actually robbed at gunpoint in Paris. Millions of dollars in jewelry stolen. We'll take you to Paris next.
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[09:53:33] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories for you at 53 minutes past.
Hurricane Matthew hitting Jamaica full force. These images coming in from the island. You can see those palm trees swaying from the 130 mile per hour force winds. Authorities in Jamaica have said Matthew is a storm not seen in decades. The category four hurricane is also expected to hit Haiti and Cuba no later than today. U.S. officials taking precautions, evacuating nonessential military personnel from Guantanamo Bay. Still unknown if Matthew could affect the U.S. coast.
According to local news reports, the engineer of that Hoboken train crash is telling authorities he has no memory of the accident, only remembering waking up on the floor of the cab. The NTSB also saying that a data recorder recovered on Friday was not working and was at least 20 years old. Authorities are now working to recover a second newer recorder that might give them insight to exactly what happened.
The Ted (ph) closes its doors. Braves fans pack Turner Field yesterday to say good-bye to the stadium, which was only in use for 20 years. In the crowd, former President Jimmy Carter, and he was even on the kiss cam. Oh, giving a smooch to his wife, Roslyn. They still got it. The Braves will move to their new stadium just outside of Atlanta next season.
All right, let's talk about Kim Kardashian. She was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. Here she is leaving her exclusive hotel just a few hours ago. Authorities say armed gunmen dressed as police officers locked her in a bathroom and got away with millions in jewelry. Her husband, Kanye West, was performing in New York. He rushed off stage after finding out.
[09:55:13] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, MUSICIAN: I'm sorry. Family emergency. I have to stop the show.
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COSTELLO: CNN's Jim Bittermann live in Paris with more for you.
Good morning, Jim.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Good morning, Carol.
Yes, in fact, it was quite a gathering out here in front of the apartment hotel where Kim Kardashian was staying. This is a really luxurious place. There's about nine apartments in this building, pretty much unknown to Parisians. It's very discreet. There's no sign to indicate that anybody of any note stays there. But, in fact, a number of stars have stayed there over the years and they like it, I guess, because it supposed to be a safe house in Paris.
But, in fact, it is not proved to have been -- didn't prove to be that last night when five gunmen broke into the hotel, got the concierge and convinced him to take them up to her suite, the Kardashian suite, and then handcuffed the concierge and then handcuffed her and put her in the bathroom while they went through her jewelry and took a ring worth $4 million and other parts of her jewelry box that were worth something around $5 million. So great deal of jewelry and a great deal of loss for the Kardashians.
Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jim Bittermann reporting live for us from Paris, thank you.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.
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