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The President Of The United States And A Former Vice President Beating Each Other Up; Former Playboy Playmate Karen Mcdougal Finally Breaking Her Silence On This Alleged Affair Of Hers With Donald Trump; Jay Leno Making A Surprise Return To The "Tonight" Show Filling In For Jimmy Fallon For A Few Minutes; Dow Down 673 Points. Aired 3:30-4:00p ET

Aired March 22, 2018 - 15:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:41] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: The President of the United States and a former vice President Joe Biden, both in their 70s, both American leaders, and yet talking about beating each other up. In an official statement, President Trump called former vice President Joe Biden, quoting him, "weak both mentally and physically." He tweeted that if he had a fight with Biden, Biden would go down hard quote, "crying all the way."

Now, Trump didn't start this. Biden sounded off first, claiming he would have beaten up Trump if they had gone to high school together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When a guy who ended up becoming our national leader says I can grab a woman anywhere he likes, they asked me (INAUDIBLE). And then said, I made a mistake. They asked me if I would like to debate this gentleman, I said no. I said if we were in high school I would take the guy behind the gym. I have been around locker rooms my whole life. Any guy who talked that way was usually the fattest, ugliest S.O.B. in the room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jake Tapper is with me, host of "the LEAD" and "STATE OF THE UNION." Good to see you.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hi, Brooke. Yes.

BALDWIN: It's like, you have two (INAUDIBLE) who are talking about bodily harm against one another. We are talking in commercial break, you have little kids. You are trying to teach them --

TAPPER: Yes. I'm trying to teach my 8-year-old don't hit your sister just because you are mad at her.

BALDWIN: But then when they turn on your show --

TAPPER: We don't watch the news during this era when I'm around my kids. I don't want them asking me daddy, what's a porn star? Daddy, what's a playmate? Daddy. What is sexual assault? And certainly, I don't want this as an example from either one of these gentlemen. This is not how leaders are supposed to talk.

BALDWIN: We have a clip because it's important also to remind people this goes back, some of this tough Biden talk goes back to 2016. He was saying to Trump, you know, I will take you out behind a gym or by a dumpster and beat you up. And you --.

TAPPER: We did a cartoon for state of the cartoon, you know, on "STATE OF THE UNION."

BALDWIN: Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Don't I wish I were debating him. No, I wish we were in high school, I could take him behind the gym.

TAPPER: This week we contemplated a modern day duel with Biden as Burr and Hamilton, Trump. Perhaps as high school students instead of, you know, grown men.

[15:35:00] BIDEN: I would like to take him behind the gym if I were in high school. I used to have a temper. I don't have a temper anymore.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Did you see where Biden wants to take me to the back of the barn. Me.

TAPPER: Perhaps the man invited to the duel gets to choose the venue.

TRUMP: I would love that. I would love that. Mr. Tough guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right. So that was two years ago. The fact that he is still saying this, he being the former vice President, what's up? Like, is he just chomping at the bit to potentially challenge Trump in 2020? What's your read?

TAPPER: Well, yes. I think he is chomping at the bit not just to challenge Trump in 2020. I think he is chomping at the bit to challenge him in 2016. I think he wishes he could go back in time and run and obviously Hillary Clinton was a big obstacle. He probably almost certainly could not have defeated her for the Democratic nomination. But I think he thinks he could have won if he had run against Trump.

And look, it's hard to imagine Joe Biden losing Pennsylvania. So he has an argument to be made there although you could argue about different states Hillary Clinton won that maybe he wouldn't have. Plus, I should point out Joe Biden has run for President twice before and not even made it to Iowa.

But that said, yes, he is chomping at the bit. And I don't know that there is a better Democrat out there in terms of who has a better chance of defeating Donald Trump. I mean, he will be 78, but Donald Trump will be 74, 75 at the time of the next President taking office in 2020 -- 2021. So, I mean, they will both be pretty old. Whoever wins in 2020 will be the oldest person ever elected. It's just a question of Joe Biden being three or four years older than Donald Trump.

BALDWIN: OK. Jake Tapper, we will see you at the top of the hour on your show. Thank you so much.

TAPPER: But let me just say to my son, do not act like the vice President and the President. That's not appropriate. I do not condone that.

BALDWIN: Thanks, dad.

TAPPER: OK.

BALDWIN: Appreciate it.

We are, speaking of porn stars and playmates, we are hours away from former playmate Karen McDougal breaking her silence about this alleged affair with Donald Trump. She is talking to Anderson tonight, even though this interview could get her into legal trouble. We will talk to a former editor for the company accused of trying to silence her, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:41] BALDWIN: Tonight a CNN exclusive. Former playboy playmate Karen McDougal finally breaking her silence on this alleged affair of hers with Donald Trump. CNN's Anderson Cooper interviewing her.

McDougal claims she had this ten-month affair with Trump starting back in 2006. The White House has said Trump denies this alleged affair. McDougal is suing the "National Enquirer's" parent company which is controlled by a man by the name of David Pecker, friend and supporter of President Trump's. McDougal claims this catch and kill technique was used to protect Trump and prevent her story from ever appearing in the tabloids.

So I have Maxine Page with me today. She is a former executive editor for American Media Inc. That's is the "National Enquirer's" parent company and radar online, who can speak to this catch and kill.

So Maxine, thank you for being with me. And for people not in your world, walk me through, how does catch and kill work?

MAXINE PAGE, FORMER EXECUTIVE EDITOR, RADAR ONLINE: You can get accidental catch and kill and you can get intentional. So, you know, we can get a story and we can run it through our legal team and then we will run it, the last minute we will run it to the celebrity's or the person of interest's lawyer and they will come back and they will say look, this is damaging to my client, and basically kill it. So it can happen that way. Or you can intentionally go after someone that you know is shopping a story around or you have heard rumors about, you can get them, you can meet with them, you can basically coerce them into signing a contract with you because you promise them you are going to run the story and tell their side of things, and when it comes down to it, they sign the contract which means they can't sell it anywhere else, and then you just kill the story. So the story conveniently disappears.

BALDWIN: So on the shopping it around piece, in this particular case with Karen McDougal, at the time you knew she was out, she was shopping her story around a while ago, how were her efforts received back then?

PAGE: Back then, you have got to realize it was very different because she was basically shopping around a story of having an affair with Donald Trump, who for all intents and purposes, along with being like a New York billionaire, was basically the host of a reality TV show. So the serious news channels and serious newspapers would have no interest in that story. It's tabloid fodder.

Now, AMI, though, David Pecker is a long-documented friendship that spans back a long, long time, decade, I would say, with Donald Trump, so he wasn't going to buy that story. And I'm sure there would have been at the time a reporter that met with her and basically told her it's not really a story, you know, don't bother. And then obviously when Trump was became President, suddenly there was a big value for news sites as well.

BALDWIN: How much money is typically paid to someone for his or her story, the light story rights agreement?

PAGE: It can completely depend on the story, obviously. But it's less than people often think it is. I mean, I think McDougal was paid $150,000 in total which you think would be much greater, but you have to realize that tabloids reporters and editors are actually, we are kind of like trained in how to negotiate people down and how to limit their expectations and to tell them your story is just not worth that much. And there's a lot of coercive tactics that are used to basically persuade someone to sign with you for as little money as you can get away with, basically.

[15:45:00] BALDWIN: So do you think the $150,000 isn't actually a lot?

PAGE: I don't think it is. Do you? I mean, I would imagine that her life is pretty much run. As much as she, you know, people are accusing her of cashing in, you know, (INAUDIBLE), you know, she is being trolled nonstop, I would imagine. You know, she is being called like a liar by a lot of people. She is being shamed (ph) by people. You know, it's not easy to go public with a story like that. It's really not. I have seen the effects. She is being door-stepped by, you know, reporters and photographers. That's not fun. And I would want more than 150 grand.

BALDWIN: Yes. How often, just last question, how often in your years did or even does this happen with celebrities, right, when they are buddies with someone powerful, high up in a publication, you know, as is the allegation with David Pecker and his buddy Donald Trump, with this playmate story? PAGE: It's common practice. It's more common --

BALDWIN: Common practice.

PAGE: I would say so. That said, it's also common practice in Europe. Like the British newspapers have been known to do it as well. That said, I worked for the mail online in the USA and I also worked for (INAUDIBLE) publishing and never knew them do that, ever, on a single story. So as far as I'm aware, AMI definitely have done the practice. And as I said, more often than you would think.

BALDWIN: Maxine Page, $150,000 not a lot. I'm still sitting on that. Thank you so much for your perspective.

And also just for everyone watching, do not miss Anderson's interview, his exclusive interview with Karen McDougal, who we were talking about, the playmate who says she had a consensual affair with Donald Trump years ago. The White House says it never happened. That airs tonight 8:00 right here on CNN.

Meantime, Jay Leno making a surprise return to the "Tonight" show filling in for Jimmy Fallon for a few minutes. And he took shots at the President. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY LENO, FORMER HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: Folks, sexual harassment, sexual harassment, a big issue. People finally taking it seriously. In fact, scientists at Northwestern University did a study about the differences between men's brains and women's brains. This is fascinating.

Listen to this. It seems women's brains are located in their head. This explains a lot. A lot of really talented and really accomplished actors have been accused of sexual harassment, also Stephen Segall.

In fact, I was talking about this yesterday with my Uber driver, Kevin Spacey. We were talking about it. Hey, it's not just actors. Matthew Wiener that created the hit show "Mad Men" has been accused.

Let me tell you something, OK. When your last name was Weiner, just introducing yourself to people is sexual harassment. And I'm sure you know, former congressman Anthony Wiener is in jail. He is in jail for sexting an underage girl. You might not know when he got caught, he actually called Bill Clinton to apologize.

See, that's when you know your life has gone off the rails. When your sexual behavior offends Bill Clinton, OK. Matt Lauer, Matt Lauer fired from the "Today" show. And Matt had to learn the hard way when Al Roker says no, he means no.

And how about Charlie Rose? Walking around naked in front of interns? When did newsmen start behaving like this? I never met Walter Cronkite prancing around in front of Margaret Thatcher. Take a look at that, Margaret. And that's the way it is. But see now, now people are discussing levels of sexual harassment.

Like on the low side of the scale, you get the guys who just want to call sexually annoying, you know, where everything a woman says has a sexual connotation. Like a woman might say bob, pass the salt. I'll pass you the salt, you know what I'm talking about here.

And on the other side you got Harvey Weinstein. Oh, my God. You been following this guy? He meets a woman in a hotel lobby, asks to go up to his room, she says no. He then opens his pants and masturbates into a potted plant.

Now, admittedly, I have been out of the dating game for a number of years. It's just hard to believe the protocol has changed that much. I got to ask the women, has that ever worked? A guy hits on you, you say no, he does that and you go oh, what a fool I was.

And how about Harvey? Has he thought it through? Say the woman did change her mind. The man is 65 years old. By the time he was done with the potted plant, sweetheart, you have to come back tomorrow.

But hey. Luckily, luckily those are just media types and Hollywood people. Can you imagine what our country would be like if the President of the United States acted like that? Oh, my God.

As you know, President Trump allegedly paid a porn star $130,000 to cover up their affair. If that turns out to be true, it would be the first time Trump has fully compensated somebody for all the work they did.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:50:28] BALDWIN: Jay Leno, we miss you.

Here we are, a look Dow down 673 points here. Ten minutes ago before the closing bell. This is after President Trump said China could soon be hit with tariffs, sparking fears of a trade war. Live report on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:10] BALDWIN: Amassing an arsenal in flame sight, chilling new video shows how the Las Vegas gunman brought bags of guns and ammunition to his hotel room in the days before the shooting. Obtained by the "New York Times" (INAUDIBLE) resort and casino in Las Vegas. These images captured on surveillance cameras show how the gunman moved in and around the casino last October where he ultimately would shoot and kill 58 people. What we still don't know is why he did it.

We are mere minutes before the closing bell. The Dow tanking after the President's tariff announcement.

Claire Sebastian is down at the New York stock exchange.

What is the reaction where you are, Claire? CLAIRE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting because I

have always been here a lot over the last year, and amidst all the euphoria that we talked in the markets over the tax cuts of a potential infrastructure spending, of all deregulation policies that we saw from the White House, trade war has always been a lingering fear. And I think that's what we saw really erupt today.

There are a lot of nerves out there, not only on the potential impact on businesses and tariffs on Chinese goods coming into the U.S., that $50 billion number the President announced, but also some potential retaliation from China, how that could affect U.S. industries, particularly agriculture. The China imports a lot of U.S. agricultural products. So, you know, we are seeing specific stocks hit, Boeing, 3M, all down 4-5 percent. We saw dips back into correction territory. This is one of the most volatile day that we see on the market since February. So you know, we are in a very sensitive time at the moment, and this is something that is really giving them a jolt today.

BALDWIN: Claire, thank you.

She spent her career covering war, conflict, and crisis, and now in her new six-part original series, "sex and love around the world," CNN's Christiane Amapour is traveling the globe to explore more intimate issues. And this week she is in Delhi, India.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN HOST: Certain men in India have a bad reputation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not a (INAUDIBLE) that t is a necessarily Indian things as against the pea tree yacht thing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This kind of stuff happens in American campuses. But you wouldn't go so far as to say white track (ph) boys kind of a bit of problem happening over there, you know. While rape by itself is endemic, gang rape is I wouldn't say as endemic, there's a lot of media focus on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And yet woman like me, we are constantly looking at their watch and being like, well, this is like dark. Now, I need to go home.

AMANPOUR: So it is just too dangerous to walk home in the dark?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And no amount of privilege can really help you because it is essentially in the fiber of how schools teach men how to be men. Parents, you know, (INAUDIBLE) little boys with how to be, you know, how to be little boys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you are a child and most of Indian you are not allowed to talk to a boy until your parents deem you to be married. So don't talk to boys. Don't talk to boys. Don't talk to boys. (Bleep) and have babies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is ridiculous. And this is why for a lot of Indian men don't know what to do with the relationships.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Wow, Christiane. I mean, this is so different from what we saw, you know, over the weekend in Tokyo. Now, you are in Delhi. Incredibly candid with these women to hear them say a bit of a rape problem. What's being done to address it?

AMANPOUR: Well, listen. Here is what is so fascinating. You're right. The Delhi environment is very different from the Tokyo environment, where there are very uptight and very dysfunctional, as you saw in matters of sexuality in Tokyo.

In Delhi, there is a different kind of dysfunction in there's been a lot of danger and very high profile rape cases which they are trying to get over. Now, they have had a huge amount of education. They have had a huge amount of, you know, legal procedures, a huge amount of sort of awareness campaign to police and everybody else to try to stop that part of it. But, of course, at the same time, those girls who you saw who are really very sort of modern, they are complaining about the whole arranged marriage system in India. So we explored how free women really are and can be, not just from violence, but to choose their own happiness, their own partners, their own loves and their own intimate lives.

BALDWIN: Make sure you tune in. Her show is "sex and love around the world," this Saturday 10:00 here on CNN. 10:00 p.m.

I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Washington D.C. We will see you this time tomorrow.

In the meantime, "the LEAD" we go. Jake Tapper, starts right now.

TAPPER: Thanks, Brooke.

So the President's lawyer walked into the oval office and says, I'm fired.

"The Lead" starts right now.

Law and disorder. The President's lead counsel in the Russian investigation abruptly stepped down just hours ago. So what happened to President Trump saying he is very happy with his legal team?

Stormy speaks. The adult performer expected to finally talk about her alleged affair with the President in the most anticipated interview in recent memory as her lawyer joins me for reaction in news about documents he just filed.

Plus --