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Texas Teacher Asked Trump To "Remove The Illegals" From School; Three Americans Found Dead At Same Dominican Republic Hotel; Trump Used The Royal Family To Gin Up Publicity For Properties; Trump And Family Members Discuss Royal Visits Which Are Supposed To Remain Private; Los Angeles Homelessness Rises Sharply As Crisis Worsens. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 05, 2019 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00] LIZZIE MALDONADO, PARENT OF ELEMENTARY STUDENT IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS: She teaches high school English.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And the kids are separated. Go on. What are other examples?

MALDONADO: So another -- well, the day she sent those tweets to President Donald Trump, she had apparently -- one paper reported that she had already asked a student for their documentation status in the hallway, which is obviously not allowed in Fort Worth IDS. So that is another incidence piled up on top of this. And on a separate occasion, she had kicked a student in the foot years before.

So in over 21 years of her career, the main thing to takeaway is there's sort of a history of racist and, you know, traumatic behavior toward children --

BALDWIN: Yes, the --

MALDONADO: -- that makes them feel unsafe.

BALDWIN: The open records request corroborates your -- how she referred to a group of students as Little Mexico and called another student White Bread.

Here is the next question, Lizzie, what took the school system so long to take action?

MALDONADO: Yes, I think, in 2013, when that incident happened, the United Advocate Association represented her in a case where they made a recommendation that she be reassigned to another school, where she was reassigned to Carter-Riverside.

And one of the -- the special dangers about her being at Carter- Riverside is it is 88 percent Latino. So I think that, obviously, it was a bad move on the part of the district to reassign her to a school -- to any other school. But in particular, a school that is majority minority. That's not obviously in the best interest of the student -- the students at that school, so.

BALDWIN: Technically, this teacher is still employed. She's on leave and still getting a paycheck. The school board unanimously voted to terminate her but she's appealing that.

If this teacher wins her appeal against what they refer to as the proposed termination, there's a possibility that she sticks around. So if, in fact, that is the case, Lizzie, what do you and other parents hope to do?

MALDONADO: I think -- I mean, we're not going to drop it until she does. That is for sure.

And the other thing to remember is that it is not only Georgia Clark. We need to make a statement that this type of behavior, these comments, these racist attitudes are not welcome by teachers in our school district, especially given the amount of power and authority they have over other students.

So we're definitely going to make an example out of Georgia Clark for sure. Unfortunately, I'm sure that she is not alone. I'm sure she's not the only teacher in ISD that has problematic views and racist ideology.

But I do think that she was one of the first ones to put her opinion out there in such a public way. Probably because she didn't understand the technology. That doesn't really matter.

So, yes, I think we'll take it as far as she's going to, for sure.

BALDWIN: We'll stay in contact with you and other concerned parents.

Lizzie Maldonado, thank you very much.

MALDONADO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: New CNN reporting on how then-private citizen, Donald Trump, used the royal family to drum up publicity for his properties, which include false rumors.

Plus, a stunning report from the city of Los Angeles. Sixty-thousand people living on the streets. Why a city known for its wealth saw its homeless population skyrocket just this past year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:38:09] BALDWIN: A crazy coincidence or something sinister? American travelers are asking what is going on in the Dominican Republic after three U.S. tourists died days apart at the same resort.

The first victim was a Pennsylvania woman, Miranda Schaup-Werner. She was celebrating her wedding anniversary. She and her husband stayed at the Bahia Principe resort in La Romana. A family member tells CNN affiliate, WFMZ, that Werner's husband said that they checked into the hotel room and his wife grabbed a drink from the mini bar and then suddenly collapsed and couldn't be revived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY MCDONALD, WERNER FAMILY SPOKESMAN: At one point, she was sitting there happily smiling and taking pictures, and the next moment she was in acute pain and called out for Dan and she collapsed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: On the same day the Werners checked in, there was another couple from Maryland, Edward Holmes and Cynthia Day, they checked into the same resort. Their bodies would be found five days later in their hotel room on the day they were supposed to check out.

CNN Martin Savidge has been looking into this.

And, Martin, the obvious question is what happened. What is the medical examiner saying?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, yes, distressing information, no doubt, especially in a place so popular with American tourists that travel to the Dominican Republic every year.

We just received a statement from what is the Bahia Principe. They are sort of the over-arching resort. They own a number of properties in the Dominican Republic. And they point out that they have the most number of rooms of any hotelier in the country.

So let me read you some of the statement they've done.

BALDWIN: Sure.

MARTIN: When it comes to the case of Mrs. Schaup-Werner, the 41-year- old woman who died on May 25th very suddenly, the hotel says, "Cause of death was determined to be a heart attack, aligning with official statements provided by Mr. Werner" -- her husband of course -- "who confirmed she had a history of a heart condition."

[14:40:12] So the hotel is maintaining that she died quite suddenly of a heart attack. So they would render that as natural causes.

Then on top of that, they say that the other couple that died -- this is the couple that came from Maryland -- they were actually at a different hotel. Same over-arching resort company. And they say their bodies showed no signs of violence.

They didn't check out on the day they were supposed to check out. Staff members went to the room and found both of them dead. That investigation, it says, it remains ongoing.

It had been reported that both of them had died as a result of water on the lungs. And that they had suffered respiratory failure. So an explanation as to why both of them would have died in the same room right now is still lacking explanation, the explanation.

But they point out also that 2.7 million Americans visit the country every year. It is a very safe destination.

Still, these deaths raise some questions here as to, just as you started, some odd coincidence or is there something more? The investigation is ongoing and the U.S. State Department is involved -- Brooke? BALDWIN: What are the families saying?

SAVIDGE: Well, the family members are saying, first and foremost, they are shocked. They felt, in both cases, these were people in relatively good condition. And in other words, the Schaup-Werner family said she was in good health. So this sudden turn of the hotel saying, no, in fact, she had a heart condition doesn't jive with what he earlier heard. And of course, the families are in deep shock at this time.

And it was the Schaup-Werner family, when they later learned about the other couple that died there, that said, wait a minute, we thought we were just dealing with our own personal tragedy, it turns out there's more going on, on these properties.

The question is, of course, is it just natural causes or something else?

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

Martin Savidge, thank you.

SAVIDGE: You're welcome, Brooke.

BALDWIN: New today, YouTube says it will now ban accounts that promote Nazis and deny the Sandy Hook massacre. Hear about who is being banned.

Plus, on the heels of the visit to Buckingham Palace, CNN has new details on years of comments made by the president that the royal family had to actually dispute, including the claim he made about Princess Diana, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:02] BALDWIN: Long before he became the president of the United States, and had a legitimate reason to meet them, Donald Trump had always been quite taken by the British royalty.

Between 1981 and 1995, multiple reports hit New York tabloids and international media that members of the British royal family were interested in buying into Trump properties.

For example, in the mid-90s, the "New York Post" reported repeatedly that the newly single Princess Diana was looking to buy a bachelorette pad in, of all places, Trump Tower.

That is not the first time the claim was made. And Buckingham Palace shot down such rumors.

But let's start here. Andrew Kaczynski is with me, the senior editor of CNN's investigative unit "KFILE," and Victoria Arbiter is CNN's royal commentator.

So, Andrew, when did this start? ANDREW KACZYNSKI, CNN SENIOR EDITOR, "KFILE": This starts in 1982 and

1981 and 1983. Trump Tower was opening for the first time. And all of a sudden. these reports in the "New York Post" that Princess Diana and Prince Charles -- and they had just gotten married so it was big news all around the world.

BALDWIN: Yes.

KACZYNSKI: There were reports that they're thinking of buying a pad in Trump Tower. And it states in the "New York Post" and makes its way into the wire services and the A.P., only to get shot down, like all of the other stories, by Buckingham Palace. And according to all of the Trump biographies, the source was Trump himself.

BALDWIN: Trump himself.

In fact, Trump himself, all these -- we've reported on these times that Trump has planted bits and pieces and nuggets, right, in the tabloids.

And so you actually found evidence that he talked about Princess Diana moving to Trump Tower when he was a guest on Howard Stern.

Here is the clip. This is November of '93.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): They're going to be beautiful. World Class, throughout the world, the most beautiful women.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: We're going to try and get Lady Di. We're trying to get Lady Di, actually, to come to the party. It's part of the deal for buying the apartment in Trump Tower. She can't have the apartment in the Trump Tower unless she comes to the party.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So what is Buckingham Palace -- did they jump in and try to squelch all that? Did it benefit him at the time?

KACZYNSKI: So when -- one of the best comments actually came in 1994 when he sort of -- he claimed they would join Mar-a-Lago on its opening. And it is funny because it is always the same thing. The royals will join, New York tabloids pick it up, wire service picks it up, and they shoot down the rumor.

In this instance, their comment was really great because I don't know if you could be any more equivocal --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Hit me with it.

KACZYNSKI: "This story is nonsense. Absolutely utterly untrue. This story was concocted by Mr. Trump just to secure publicity for his club. It is a matter of request that he feels he can use the royal -- the names of members of the royal family to do so."

We don't see comments like that very often.

BALDWIN: Talk about that.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: That is so rare.

VICTORIA ARBITER, CNN ROYAL COMMENTATOR: I think Buckingham Palace would be the size of the Empire State Building to refute all of the claims that get tossed out.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ARBITER: Mr. Trump is not the first person to try to cash in on the royal family, nor will he be the last. But he is, by the sounds of all of this, probably the most bold. And I think Buckingham Palace had to rein it in.

[14:50:03] Because what happens is, Buckingham Palace will leave a couple of the rumors, they don't comment, and then they take on a life of their own.

And Mr. Trump, as we know, can court publicity probably better than anybody else on the planet. So these reports were suddenly hitting the Associated Press, they were on the front pages of newspapers around the world and they had --

BALDWIN: They to jump in on it.

ARBITER: And underscore it was untrue.

BALDWIN: You also tweeted, Victoria, "People afforded the privilege of private time with the royals really aren't supposed to talk about it publicly."

Why did you tweet that? What did you mean?

ARBITER: Well, because, as we know, overnight, Donald Trump gave an interview to Piers Morgan and that is where -- obviously, he's been so taken aback by the show that the royal family gave him, he loved every second -- we know he can't help himself with sharing about the experiences. His children have been tweeting about everything and Instagramming everything.

But you're really not supposed to talk about anything. So I was curious to see how much he would reveal.

BALDWIN: Yes. ARBITER: He said his meeting with Prince Charles went over an hour and a half. It didn't. It went over about 20 minutes. So there's an element of untruthfulness.

But the reason you don't talk about your meetings with royals is because comments can be misconstrued. Whatever Mr. Trump said would be his interpretation of his relationship to Prince Harry or the queen.

So it is really good form, if you're going to be well behaved and good manners, to not say anything, to enjoy the privilege and to keep it private.

BALDWIN: Why do you think -- as we were talking and watching the toast at the state banquet. And you made this excellent point, which was there were few people on the planet with whom this president is so deferential, minding his "P"'s and "Q"'s.

ARBITER: He really does.

BALDWIN: Why do you think it is the queen?

ARBITER: I think there are a couple of elements. He's so clearly taken by royalty. In that scene with Howard Stern, he said, maybe I'll be with Princess Diane, I'll be the king of England, which illustrates his lack of understand of the constitutional monarchy.

(LAUGHTER)

But he obviously just loves this world.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ARBITER: We've seen some of the gaudy trappings of Trump Tower and all the gold.

But I think the queen, she's reduced captains of industry. Even Republicans refer to her as untouchable.

But I think for Mr. Trump, perhaps those are elements that remind him of his mother. He shows her reference. He shows here respect. And I'm so glad because I think that would have been a revolt in England had he mistreated her.

But it's good to see, deep down, Mr. Trump has some manners in there somewhere.

BALDWIN: Victoria Arbiter, Andrew Kaczynski, guys, thank you very much on that.

A city known for its wealth sees a stunning rise in homelessness. The crisis Los Angeles County is facing.

Plus, hear why Joe Biden's Democratic rivals are starting to pounce on him over his support for a certain amendment involving abortions.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:56:55] BALDWIN: Homelessness is on the rise in Los Angeles County. The L.A. Homeless Services Authority said nearly 60,000 people do not have a place to call home. Of that number, almost three-fourths are sleeping in cars and tents and makeshift shelters.

CNN's Maeve Reston is live in L.A.

And, Maeve, why? Why is this happening?

MAEVE RESTON, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Brooke, it is such a difficult question to answer because it is a perfect storm of factors here in Los Angeles.

But you actually have seen this population rise very rapidly over the last couple of years because there's such a huge shortage of affordable housing in the city and this county.

And not only that, there aren't even enough temporary shelter beds for many of these people to go to. And that is why you see the sort of dystopian scene of tents that are now all across the city. People living in them and almost creating permanent camps because there's a huge shortage of this.

Many of the people have actually been housed over the last year. I think that is why these numbers were so shocking to public officials. Because voters have approved several billion dollars in funds for housing. But that money does not flow quickly. It just started flowing, a lot it, late last year. You can't build entire apartment complexes overnight.

And it takes a long time to convince some of the people in this population, who have mental health issues, people who have been coming out of the criminal justice system, to move into these units. And there's very long waiting lists.

And the biggest problem, Brooke, obviously, is that there's also a lot of resistance to this among suburban homeowners.

There was the forum last year where Eric Garcetti was trying to convince people in Venice, California, to put a temporary shelter in the neighborhood. And for hour hours, people were yelling and cat calling him. Very concerned about having that kind of a facility in their neighborhood and the idea that it could endanger not only their home values but people living in their community.

So there's this constant push-pull of contradictory things that have just created a really difficult situation here in L.A. and one that will take a long time to solve -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Eric Garcetti, the L.A. mayor. And has there been any sort of solution that hasn't led to a four-hour-long yelling meeting?

RESTON: Yes, there have certainly been more of these shelters that are being built. But there's also this huge discussion in the state legislature as well as among local leaders about what the best solution is. Is it one giant tent where people would have beds to sleep at night? Is it tiny homes? Is it some other community that would have more services?

So it is just this constant roiling debate. And while they have been able to house 21,000 people over the last year, more and more people are falling into homelessness because of rising rents and so the cycle continues.

Brooke?