Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Report: GOP's Corker Unloads on Cultish State of Party; Cohen, Trump's Personal Lawyer Leaves Legal Team; Parents Report Surge in Family Separation at the Border; Real Destiny Pictures Producer Reacts to Trump's Film. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 13, 2018 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00] CHARLIE DENT, (R) FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: They don't want you to be a rubber stamp of the President. Good luck getting away with that in Pennsylvania or new jersey.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: What about Congressman, we've been covering this war of words between President Trump and our allies, Canada namely, specifically the insults against Justin Trudeau over trade. Now Canada's foreign minister Chrystia Freeland just moments ago actually met with lawmakers in Washington. I want you to listen to what she said about the President's deal on aluminum tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRYSTIA FREELAND, CANADA'S FOREIGN MINISTER: It is a national security consideration is frankly absurd, the notion that -- the notion that it will propose a national security threat to the United States, I think Americans understand that that is --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I know the audio was not awesome. She described the tariffs as absurd and mentioned a dollar-for-dollar retaliation. She is there directly taking on President Trump. She's gotten a lot of U.S. lawmakers on her side in this fight.

DENT: Many of us consider our friends to the north our brothers and sisters. We have a fully integrated economy with Canada, and it defies credulity to think that we are actually having this kind of a conversation. We have to get to a better place on this with our allies. I think the President really needs to rethink how he's handled the G7. Our best friends and allies. He needs to do better. Again, nobody believes that Canada is a security threat to us and that these tariffs are destructive.

I had conversations with Secretary Ross prior to my leaving congress about how the impacts with my congressional district, just on the aluminum tariffs alone were going to be very significant. Tariffs should be a last resort, we should be working with European allies and Japan and South Korea to pressure China on excess metals capacity and on intellectual property theft. That's what we should be doing, not fighting with our allies, but doubling down with our allies and taking on the Chinese in a better form.

BALDWIN: Charlie dent, congressman, thank you very much.

President Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen is looking for new lawyers to represent him. Details as the pressure mounts in his criminal investigation.

[15:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is CNN. The President's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has split with his legal team. The group of lawyers that has helped him navigate this criminal investigation, raid on his home, office, hotel room, and Gloria Borger has been breaking the news on this one. Gloria, new reporting. Why is he changing his lawyers?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: These things are complicated, particularly when they involve lawyers and clients. We've been told according to multiple sources that, first of all, Michael Cohen wants somebody and a firm who is very familiar with the southern district of New York. He has obvious reason to believe he may be under criminal prosecution at some time in the not-too-distant future. The attorneys he originally hired were hired to help him navigate the congressional process. This case has obviously burgeoned into something completely different, so he wants somebody from New York.

The second reason according to a couple of sources is money. This is an expensive process, particularly when you have a large law firm going through the laborious task of going through a million pieces of paper or documents, or whatever it is, right now as part of a special master process. So, it becomes really expensive. So, the question is whether he wants to kind of narrow the team down, narrow his focus to southern district of New York. There may be other reasons. It may signal a shift in strategy. We just don't know at this point.

BALDWIN: Got it. And since the FBI raid, I know that all kinds of legal experts have been proposing the possibility that he could flip, which would be huge, huge news against the President. Do we know if he's talked to prosecutors at all about any sort of deal?

BORGER: We have one source who has told us in fact as of today Michael Cohen has not met with prosecutors. He also doesn't know whether prosecutors are interested in meeting with Michael Cohen. We really can't answer that question right now. What we do know is this whole saga with Michael Cohen has gotten the President really upset for a lot of reasons. He called it a disgrace when his home and office were raided.

[15:40:00] Don't forget, he was the President's personal attorney and there's perhaps some fear that Michael Cohen could have information that's detrimental to the President. Obviously, they'd be afraid of him flipping and talking to prosecutors about that. He could also just cooperate to help himself quite honestly. But we just don't know if or what this signals.

BALDWIN: Got you. And do we have any indication what President Trump may be thinking right now? BORGER: No, we don't. Look, he's had a long relationship with

Michael Cohen. I think he first tired him in 2006 or 2007. And as we always talk about, Michael Cohen is the fixer. They have a close personal relationship. I think the Stormy Daniels issue may have put a wedge in that relationship to a certain degree. But I think the President upset about what happened with Cohen and how it could or could not impact him, the President personally. But we don't -- we don't have a window into exactly what the President believes might be in that trove of documents that was seized from Michael Cohen's home and office and whether the President's worried about it.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, thank you so much.

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: Moments ago, protesters marching in the nation's capital over the Trump administration's immigration policy, this policy that has separated undocumented immigrants from their children. Van Jones joins me live to discuss what is going on next.

[15:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Activists and lawmakers are marching in the nation's capital today to protest the Trump administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the border. The separations are part of the policy to arrest and prosecute anyone who crosses the border illegally. Among the speakers at today's event John Lewis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN LEWIS, (D), GEORGIA: I'm sick and tired of children, babies separated from their mothers and fathers. We have to say something, we have to do something. We cannot afford to be quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Political commentator Van Jones. What's going on?

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a human rights catastrophe. Part of what is so sad, the Republican party in particular should step forward. This is supposed to be a pro family, pro-choice party, pro baby party. If a person has been raped, they'll tell you don't harm the child because of what the parents did. It's a very interesting child. Here's an opportunity for you to show you mean it. You don't harm children, you don't harm babies because the parents crossed the border. This is a moral outrage. It should be both parties going to the President, going to sessions and saying stop this.

You are scarring children for life. Can you imagine a 2-year-old child being taken from the mother months on end, no understanding about what's going on? That child will be 40 years old and 50 years old and 60 years old and 70 years old still hurting, still scarred for a relatively minor offense. And I just want to say they don't have to do this. They don't have to do it. They don't have to charge them criminally, every single one of them and do this to these families.

BALDWIN: The question to the White House is why would you do this? You know, separating the parents and kids seems cruel and heartless. I found a quote from John Kelly, the chief of staff, I just want to read it. "I wouldn't put it quite that way, the children will be taken care of, put into foster care or whatever." The administration is saying we want to unify the families, but you came here illegally, you're being punished and it's on you to find your kids.

JONES: There's so much wrong with what Kelly is saying. Our federal courts have already said that you can't do bad things to an individual to deter other people, that you have to treat each and every person as an individual, not as an opportunity I'm going to do something bad to you to scare off other people. Courts have already said you can't do that. Then the question is as you look at each of these individual people, in the past have there been some people who crossed the border who were aggressively criminally charged?

BALDWIN: Yes.

[15:50:00] JONES: Yes, but not everybody, not all of them. If you have them in detention, they keep their baby. If you charge them with a crime, they lose the baby. They're deliberately choosing the most punitive overreaction to create this harm to these children and that is wrong. Listen, I am a person of faith. The faith community should be flooding the streets right now, flooding the phone lines to the White House.

You don't do this to children for minor offenses. We're not talking -- the other thing is this -- it's gone beyond even those who have crossed the border illegally. We now have cases where people are doing exactly what American following our law to the letter and they're having their babies taken.

And so, you're seeing this creeping attack on children as a part of the policy of the United States to deter immigration following our law to the letter and they're having their babies taken. And so, you're seeing this creeping attack on children as a part of the policy of the United States to deter immigration which our courts say is wrong. We can't so -- ignored to outrageous and controversy and tweets that babies are now fair game. At a certain point in the Republican party, I call on my Republican friends in particular, my pro-family Republican friends and say this is too far. This is too much.

BALDWIN: Thank you for speaking up. Van jones. Van jones show on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. eastern.

JONES: We'll be talking about it.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much.

Next, the bizarre movie trailer that President Trump played for Kim Jong-Un led to a major mix-up in Hollywood. We'll talk to the movie producer who got inundated with calls who thought he created the video.

But first a look at our series "Champions for Change."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next week, a special CNN series, our anchors profile "champions for change."

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: We travel the globe telling stories of change-makers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this time were joining the mission to make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: giving time to the causes that are dear to our heart.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And sharing the stories of the champions leading the charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is for a great cause. That is motivating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to help them in ways that let them see this is not how your life has to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an opportunity to pay it forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To do something that is going to be meaningful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are the kinds of students any community would be blessed to have.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just warms your heart you could help someone with food.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Join the journalists of CNN as we work alongside "Champions for Change", next week. Presented by Charles Schwab.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: President Trump's Hollywood-like movie trailer starring President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un took has completely up-ended the life of a real movie producer. The clip produced by the National Security Council was emblazoned with the title Destiny Pictures Presents. The only problem there is a real movie company called Destiny Pictures that had absolutely nothing to do with the trailer. Here a reminder, this is a quick clip of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The past doesn't have to be the future. Out of the darkness can come the light. Destiny pictures presents, a story of opportunity. Two men, two leaders, one destiny.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Joining me now, the founder of the real Destiny Pictures, Mark Castaldo and I can't imagine what your week has been like. Can you give me a glimpse of the calls you've received?

MARK CASTALDO, FOUNDER, DESTINY PICTURES: Thanks for having me. It is a whirlwind of day and a half. Yesterday 5:30, 5:45 in the morning, sleeping I got two or three phone calls and it is 5:30, 5:45 and I thought something might be wrong here. Nobody is calling that early and they were back to back. And I grab my phone and open it up and there were 150 e-mails from every media outlet all over the world.

BALDWIN: Thinking that you were the guy?

CASTALDO: Yes.

BALDWIN: In the clip of the movie.

CASTALDO: Yes. Asking. Correct. Asking if I was the guy who produced the video clip or -- I am the guy who produced the video clip.

BALDWIN: So, you're not the guy? You are not the guy who put this whole thing together but I'm curious, did you in all of the calls and e-mails, did you ever hear from the White House?

CASTALDO: No. Never heard from the White House at all. I'd like to know why they put DESTINY PICTURES on it. I mean, I have an instinct. I have a guess possibly why they did that -- or whoever made the video.

BALDWIN: Why?

[16:00:00] CASTALDO: I think the video is a forward-looking what's the possibilities --

BALDWIN: North Korea, this could be your destiny kind of thing.

CASTALDO: Correct. So thematically I think it was inserted in there. That is my guess.

BALDWIN: Let's watch another piece of the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new world can begin today. One of friendship, respect, and good will. Be part of that world where the doors of opportunity are ready to be opened, investment from around the world where you can have medical break-throughs and abundance of resources, innovative technology and new discoveries. What if --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, since I have you just as a filmmaker, I don't know -- one to ten, ten being amazing, professionally, what grade do you give this movie? CASTALDO: I got to give it like a six. I think it is -- it is too long. Less is more in film making. Way too much narration. The narration throughout the whole four minutes and it is -- it is redundant and gets repetitious. You could tell that story in -- you could progress that story in two minutes.

BALDWIN: Mark Castaldo of the real Destiny Pictures, thanks for coming on.

CASTALDO: Thanks for having me.