Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Eight Dead in Texas Charter Bus Crash; Trump Denies Posing As His Own Publicist; States Fire Back Against Transgender Guidelines; Remembering Lee McCollum; Working Class Americans Shaping the Race; Trump Admirers in China; Inside the Texas Biker Brawl. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 14, 2016 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:08] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we are following breaking news right now. Eight people are dead after a charter bus rolled over. This happening in Laredo, Texas.

I want to give you the latest information into our newsroom. The DOT spokesman telling us this bus was traveling north on Highway 83 in Webb County around 12:30 Eastern when the drive apparently lost control. Seven of the victims died at the scene. One person died at the hospital, another 44 people were taken to the hospital and we do not know their conditions right now.

The charter bus we know began the trip in San Juan, Texas, was on its way to Eagle Pass. We are working to get more information and we'll bring it to you as soon as we have it.

Now to the race for the White House. A new potential controversy dominating the headlines today, just as Donald Trump and Republican leadership agreed to arty unity. It's over an old audio recording that surfaced just this week raising questions about whether Trump may have posed as his own PR spokesman during a phone interview with a reporter back in the '90s. Trump denies it's his voice on the tape, but what do you think? Here's the clip.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

"JOHN MILLER': I'm sort of been put in here to handle, because I've never seen anybody get so many calls from the press.

SUE CARSWELL: Where did you come from?

"MILLER": I came from -- basically worked for different firms. I worked for a couple of different firms. I'm somebody that he knows and I think somebody that he trusts and likes.

So, I'm going to do this a little part-time and then get on with my life too.

(END AUDIO CLIP) CABRERA: The publicist who goes by the name John Miller there also discusses very specific details about Trump's divorce with Ivana Trump and his relationship with then-girlfriend and future wife Marla Maples.

Sue Carswell is the former "People" magazine reporter on the other end of these phone calls. She's now a reporter and researcher with "Vanity Fair" and she's floating a very interesting theory about how this recording got out.

She talked with CNN's Michael Smerconish today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN ANCHOR: Did you release this tape?

SUE CARSWELL, VANITY FAIR: No.

SMERCONISH: Did you have the tape? I mean, how did it get into play?

CARSWELL: Right. Two people had the tape. I had the tape and Trump had a tape, and I don't have the tape.

SMERCONISH: How do you think it got into play?

CARSWELL: Well, it didn't get to "The Washington Post" through me.

SMERCONISH: So?

CARSWELL: Trump.

SMERCONISH: You think Trump dropped this tape?

CARSWELL: Yes.

SMERCONISH: Why would he do that?

CARSWELL: Look what's going on this week -- taxes, Paul Ryan, the butler -- the butler did it, and now, Trump seems to like to pull "People" magazine stories into the array.

SMERCONISH: So, in other words, a continuation -- here's your thought -- it's a continuation of what John Miller told you back in 1991, that there's no such thing as bad publicity. So, Trump now getting banged over the taxes, the butler comes out and says outrageous things about President Obama, he figures, you know what? A little diversion here is in order?

CARSWELL: Yes, but what's so weird, 25 years and, all of a sudden, this comes forward. There's no reason for it to come forward at all.

SMERCONISH: There's not been some Watergate break in at your apartment, where someone could have break in --

CARSWELL: This is Watergate going on right now, Michael. SMERCONISH: Well, you know, there are some who are watching and I

think everybody is transfixed by it, but some who say, come on, what's the relevance? Who cares?

CARSWELL: Who cares? I mean, he's running for president. It's all about the character of a president and, you know, whether he should be in the Oval Office being able to, you know, run this country and -- and is he going to still be punking us when he's president?

SMERCONISH: Let's go back to what happened. It's 1991, you're with "People" magazine. He's got some domestic discord. You call Trump's office and what happens?

CARSWELL: I called his office and asked to speak with Trump about the tabloid headlines that he had dumped Marla for Carla Bruni, and I got a call back from a spokesman who claimed he was John Miller and who sounded -- and I said you sound just like Trump. It's remarkable that he was able to, you know, hire a publicist that sounded just like him.

And he said, well, you know, I just come from places. He wasn't very specific. And I had my list of questions so I just went on with them.

SMERCONISH: But your antenna were immediately raised?

CARSWELL: Well, I was like, this is uncanny.

SMERCONISH: Right.

CARSWELL: So, we went on -- we talked and I made it go a little longer and I got the phone and I immediately walked down the halls and I said, "This is Trump. This is Trump."

And then we had a call and got three confirmations and we called Cindy Adams from "The New York Post", who said, "That's Trump, what's he doing?" And then we called another person and I called Marla who just cried when I played the tape for her.

SMERCONISH: She was then the girlfriend and was hoping --

CARSWELL: She had a so-called engagement ring she had thought.

SMERCONISH: And so when you write the story, to your credit you say Trump says good-bye Marla, hello Carla, and a mysterious PR man who sounds just like Donald. So, you outed him at the time.

CARSWELL: Yes.

SMERCONISH: Did he then fess up?

CARSWELL: Two weeks later.

SMERCONISH: He did?

CARSWELL: Yes, he apologized to the magazine and he said "I'm sorry". And he said he had disturbed -- you know, this had disturbed Marla greatly. SMERCONISH: Let me put on the screen what "People" magazine then

published at the time. Quote, "The John Miller fiasco, he called, Trump, called a joke gone awry." So explain to me why you think if he admitted it at the time, he's on "The Today Show" yesterday saying that wasn't me. It doesn't even sound like me.

CARSWELL: This is a guy who gets up at like 4:00 in the morning. I mean, he should have been more with it --

SMERCONISH: Do you think he was caught off guard?

CARSWELL: I think he was caught off guard, but then again as I said, I didn't release the tape. I believe he did.

SMERCONISH: Just to distract our attention from all the other things that have now been published about him?

CARSWELL: Yes. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: All right, let's dig a little deeper with our panel. Political editor for rightalerts.com and Trump supporter Scotty Nell Hughes joins me from Nashville. Also, CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker", Ryan Lizza, and CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Maria Cardona.

Scottie, first, your reaction to what , that Trump himself may have leaked this audiotape?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, I think Sue Carswell has some major explaining to do for her accusations right there. They're inflammatory. And as she's gone on her media blitz the last 24 hours, it's amazing, her story has changed and has presented some flaws to it.

You know, when she first did her story last night on NBC, it was basically, OK, fine, it was her opinion, it was the story. But then she went on another news network and she told the female host on that network that she had actually -- there were two copies of the tape, she assumed Mr. Trump had the other copy, and that when she moved, she lost her copy.

So that's why this couldn't be her that leaked it because her copy was lost. So, she makes two assumptions there. And then she goes and fine.

And then she goes on this morning, on Michael Smerconish's show, and she comes up with this accusation that Mr. Trump leaked it. Which is absolutely insane considering the Trump -- it's actually very libel almost because that's saying the Trump campaign leaked something out that they've been holding on to for 25 years?

That's pathetic, that's absolutely wrong, I think Sue needs to get her facts and her story straight before we continue on with this investigation or even this story. CABRERA: Ryan, do we learn anything more about Trump from this tape?

RYAN LIZZA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Just one thing on the accusation that perhaps Trump leaked it. I mean, I guess anything's possible, but it would be unusual if he purposely leaked this tape and then went on morning TV the other day and said it wasn't his voice, when I assume he would have remembered that he admitted that it was him back in the day.

Anyway, I think all of that aside, you know -- is anyone really shocked that Donald Trump, who talks to reporters all the time and was a staple of the tabloid press in the '80s and '90s -- I grew up in the New York area in the '80s and '90s and Donald Trump was in the "New York Post" and "The Daily News" on a weekly basis. Knew all the reporters and was constantly playing games like this.

So, personally I'm not shocked that a reporter called and he played a game like this. I'm a little surprised that when he was confronted by it and asked about it, that he said it's not his voice. Since he's already admitted that it is.

I don't think a lot of people would be surprised or -- I think a lot of people would forgive him if he admitted that it was him, I think the problem here is that he's said it wasn't him after the fact and that's a little unusual.

CABRERA: Maria, some have suggested that the fact this tape is coming out now, the fact that we're talking about it, is just another example of the media trying to sabotage Trump. What are your thoughts on that?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, clearly, this is his voice. This is him on that audio recording. So if anybody is sabotaging anybody, it's Trump sabotaging Trump, because look, I do think that in the grand scheme of things, this is just a stupid story. But what it does do, Ana, is that it underscores for those people and those voters that Trump needs to add to his supporters, because he's never going to get to the White House with the number of supporters and voters that he has now, those people are really looking at Trump and saying, this guy is really unserious.

This is somebody who is interviewing for the highest job in the land, for the most powerful position on earth, and he is now asking us to trust him with that position? When back in the '90s he portrayed himself as his own publicist and now, he's lying about it?

So, I think it just underscores the other un-seriousness of his positions or lack thereof, frankly. It underscores also for other Republicans who are having a lot of heartburn trying to support him the lack of values and the lack of principles that he has shown. And so, that's where I think it hurts him in the long run, in terms of his image to the voters that he needs to try to win over.

[19:10:07] CABRERA: There have been some steps this week to create party unity. House Speaker Paul Ryan met with Trump. Out of that, they both positioned it or frame it as a very positive meeting. And then Paul Ryan just spoke moments ago in Wisconsin talking a little bit more about this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: As you know, I had a long meeting with Donald Trump. I and our party leaders in the house had a long meeting with Donald Trump on Thursday. I thought it was a very productive meeting. It was the first meeting we've really had other than a phone call in March.

And so, we are beginning the process of discussing what unity looks like in the Republican Party. As I said before, this takes some time. This isn't done with a couple of meetings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, Scottie, we were all listening closely, is he going to endorse Trump with this statement? He didn't. Does it make you nervous the highest-ranking Republican out there in the country still hasn't endorsed Donald Trump?

HUGHES: No, I'm not nervous about that, I think it's down the line. I think we will see it.

But the story yesterday was that nine members of house leadership, Republican House leadership, did endorse. And that Trump train amongst Congress is continuing grow with leadership as well as just both in the House and the Senate continuing to jump on board, because they realize whether they might not like different parts of Mr. Trump's philosophy or how he ran the primary, he's a lot better than what the other side has to offer which is Hillary Clinton.

These Republicans, senators and house members, realize that we have record turnout and unless they get on, they face losing their own elections like we're seeing with Paul Ryan in Wisconsin, a very strong contender against him, and John McCain over in Arizona. So, they might as well garnering what the people of their districts are overwhelmingly telling them, that they like the policies and principles that Mr. Trump continues to present.

CABRERA: Scottie, Maria, Ryan, stay with me. We're going to bring you back on the flip side of this break.

Ahead this hour, also, it might not be the law but the debate is heating up over the Obama administration's transgender bathroom guidelines. How this social battle is turning into a real political conversation.

Plus, they don't have college degrees. They have few job prospects. They feel left behind. And they're exactly the people voting for Donald Trump. So, how does Hillary Clinton sway these white working- class white men to vote for her? We'll discuss.

And later, a year after a deadly shoot-out in Texas, CNN travels to the inner circles of this secret world of rival motorcycle clubs. Do not miss it.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:11] CABRERA: It might not be the law but the debate is definitely heating up over the Obama administration's transgender bathroom guidelines. These guidelines say schools should allow transgender students to use the restrooms or locker rooms based on the gender with which they identify. Remember, they're called guidelines. But the government has threatened to withhold Title 9 funding for schools that don't follow them. Opponents say the government has now gone too far.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia -- Nick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN PATRICK, TEXAS LT. GOVERNOR: We will not yield to blackmail from the president of the United States.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The federal government calls them guidelines. But several states, including Texas, see them more as a threat.

PATRICK: This goes against the values of so many people. It has nothing to do with anyone being against a transgender child.

VALENCIA: At a Friday morning press conference, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says a line has been crossed by the federal government after the Department of Justice sent a letter on transgender bathroom use in public schools across the United States.

PATRICK: I'm telling all the superintendents of Texas, you have about three weeks left of the school year. Do not enact this policy.

VALENCIA: In the letter, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, there is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex.

Under the guidelines, public schools that receive federal money are obligated to treat students consistent with their gender identity, even if their records indicated a different sex, access sex-segregated facilities consistent with their gender identity and protect a student's privacy related to their gender status.

(CHANTING)

VALENCIA: The action sets the stage for a legal battle that's been in the making since March. House Bill 2 in North Carolina began the recent controversy. The law requires transpeople to use the public restroom related to the gender on their birth certificate, not how they identify.

Candis Cox has been one of the most outspoken against the law. She's a transgender woman and has met with the North Carolina governor.

CANDIS COX, TRANSGENDER ACTIVIST: The fact that we are not talking about transgender people and who they are, but rather we don't want someone who looks like a man or looks like a woman, that identifies as the opposite gender, it lets me know we're still discriminating on aesthetics.

VALENCIA: North Carolina and the feds have traded accusations and lawsuits. Some states, including Arkansas and Texas, insist there's been government overreach. The feds say civil rights have been violated.

GOV. PAT MCCRORY (R), NORTH CAROLINA: This is not just a North Carolina issue. This is now a national issue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The guidance is the most detailed outline given by the federal government regarding what they think should happen with transgender bathroom use. And earlier today at a commencement address, the head of the civil rights division for the Department of Justice seemed to double down saying in part, efforts like House Bill 2 in North Carolina not only violate the laws that govern our nation but also the values that define us as people -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Nick Valencia, thank you. This is definitely a hot issue.

I'm going to bring back our panel, Scottie Nell Hughes and Maria Cardona, staying with us.

Let's listen to what Donald Trump said about this issue back in April.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: North Carolina, what they're going through with all of the business that's leaving and all of the strife. And that's on both sides. You leave it the way it is. There have been very few complaints the way it is.

People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic -- I mean, the economic punishment that they're taking. So I would say that's probably the best way --

INTERVIEWER: Do you have trans gender people working in your organization?

TRUMP: I don't know, I really don't know. I probably do, I really don't know.

INTERVIEWER: If Caitlyn Jenner were to walk into Trump tower and want to use the bathroom you would be fine with her using any bathroom she chooses?

TRUMP: That is correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: That was a few weeks ago. Before I get your comments listen to what he said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I believe it should be states' rights. I think the state should make the decision. They're more capable of making the decision. I felt that from the beginning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: So, Scottie, isn't this another example of what worries some GOP voters that Donald Trump is shifting his position on some major issues?

HUGHES: Well, you have to realize that first comment came because I think Mr. Trump hates to hear of anybody losing a job or losing money. And the state losing a job and losing money. At that time we were dealing with North Carolina, a lot of things were pulling out of North Carolina. And I think that hurt him.

But then as he started to think about it, he realized on issues like this, sometimes you have to take your personal opinion out and you have to refer back to the Constitution.

[19:20:05] And that is the Tenth Amendment that is a states' rights issue and it should be left to the states and the federal government should not sit there and overrule what the people of the state choose for ourselves. So, I think his answer correctly about being a states' right issue within the last couple of days is absolutely correct. But realize his first answer was just based on the emotion of he hated to hear of people losing a mighty dollar they might have worked hard for.

CABRERA: But, Scottie, a lot of people don't get a pass on flip- flopping their positions, especially politicians.

HUGHES: Well, but that's it. Mr. Trump isn't a politician. He looked at it from the very beginning as a businessman, of someone actually losing a dollar, losing -- the economic hurt of this type of legislation.

And then now that he's -- now that you realize you have to reference everything back to the Constitution, as he's evolving to become the next president of the United States, he actually goes, you know what, it comes back to the Constitution first.

CABRERA: Maria, this is one issue where he seems took leaning more towards the conservative slant. However, he has been criticized by some of the Republican Party for changing positions recently on other issues -- increasing the minimum wage, raising taxes for the most wealthy. In those cases, he's moving more towards the Democrats. Could this be a problem for the nominee in your party?

CARDONA: No, absolutely not, because if you actually look at what he said on the minimum wage and increasing taxes, he didn't really change positions at all. I think he is very much aligned with the conservative right wing on that.

But in terms of this transgender issue, I do think that that gives not just Republicans and conservatives heartburn, it gives American voters heartburn. It is again yet another indication of who knows where this guy stands?

And who is this person to begin with? Is it Donald Trump? Is it John Miller posing as Donald Trump? Or the other way around? Who knows?

Interestingly enough, when he first made his comments about this transgender issue, I said, you know what? Good for you, Mr. Trump, he's on the right side of this. And then, of course, we should have expected that he was going to flip-flop. Perhaps it was one of the conversations that he had with Paul Ryan, and the Republican Party said, look, you can't stand on this transgender issue like this, if you do we're not going to support you.

So, maybe that's why he flip-flopped. Luckily, the federal government is there to make sure that this isn't an issue that protects the almighty dollar but it's an issue that protects the civil rights of every person in the United States. And that is what the government is doing, as they should.

CABRERA: Go ahead, Scottie.

HUGHES: But that's the problem. We're talking about 1 percent of students. Why is this even an issue? What about the rights and civil rights and safety of the other students that are not the 1 percent, the 99 percent of other students right now that their rights are being infringed upon because they might have to share a locker room or share a bathroom with the opposite sex, something they don't feel comfortable with, especially in elementary and middle school.

My buddy Franklin Graham put it best, who does President Obama think he is, the sultan of Washington that he makes a decree and the people of the United States just need to bow down and accept it? I am with the lieutenant governor of Texas and other states that are saying, wait a minute, let us handle this issue, this is a Tenth Amendment issue. Let the states decide it and federal government don't sit there and use the mighty dollar to make us have to obey what you want us to do.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Unfortunately, that was the wrong way because they are discriminating. And again, luckily the federal government is there. Conservatives like to say it's all about individual rights, except when it comes to women's reproductive systems and clearly now our private parts.

HUGHES: This is a different system. This is two different issues. You cannot put women's issues and transgender issues --

CARDONA: Of course you can.

HUGHES: No, you're making the night -- CARDONA: It's hugely hypocritical.

CABRERA: All right, ladies.

HUGHES: The 99 percent of students are going to have to sit there and have to go to the bathroom and the locker room --

CABRERA: It wasn't a problem before.

HUGHES: Because it wasn't --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: I know you're going to continue to disagree on this issue so we'll have to agree to disagree and we'll move on. We'll bring you back.

Maria Cardona, Scottie Nell Hughes, thank so much.

Still ahead, a sad ending to what was an encouraging story we brought to you here on CNN, a young man who was beating the odds on the tough streets of Chicago now losing his life to the violence there. His story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Homicides are spiking across the country, up 9 percent over the first three months of this year, and this is according to a new report. Topping the list, Chicago. One of its latest victims, Lee Mccollum Jr., who was featured in the CNN "Chicagoland" series.

He went as a teen with gang ties to honor roll student and prom king. Sadly, McCollum was murdered this week and his killer is still out there.

CNN's Ryan Young has more from Chicago's south side.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 2013 prom king, y'all give it up for Mr. Lee Mccollum.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For once he was a king, known to viewers of the 2014 CNN documentary "Chicagoland." Lee Mccollum gave a rare glimpse into his struggle for survival and escape from his gang-riddled neighborhood.

But Mccollum's story ended tragically Thursday morning after he was gunned down in the streets of Chicago's south side.

LEE MCCOLLUM: I don't have a plan.

LIZ DOZIER, FORMER PRINCIPAL, FENGER HIGH SCHOOL: What do you think about maybe in January, what do you think about going away? To college or to trade school?

MCCOLLUM: I wouldn't mind going away.

DOZIER: Give me your word, we'll meet up at some point next week. You know me, I'm 100 percent real, you know how I am. I don't want to hear nothing bad happened to you. I don't want to be going to your funeral.

YOUNG: Words that have new meaning for his former principal.

DOZIER: That was so hard when they played that clip back. I just -- I forgot that I said that to him. I was worried about him at the time. There were things going on in his life that weren't on the up and up.

MCCOLLUM: I ain't have no hopes and dreams of going to college.

YOUNG: Twenty-two-year-old Lee Mccollum, a former gang member turned honor roll student and prom king, never made it out of the tough south side. Despite getting accepted to college, he never enrolled. And Thursday morning, Lee was murdered, shot in the head, and left to die in the streets.

DOZIER: As a freshman he used to get on my last nerve. He was in a lot of trouble, a lot of issues. But we really wrapped support and resources around him and he joined the basketball team. We could just see him slowly begin to shift until, really when he graduated, he was prom king. He had been on the honor roll. He really changed his life.

[19:30:00] And it was positive and it was inspiring, because we know that all of our kids have that potential. I think that there is just up against incredible odds.

YOUNG: This wasn't McCollum's first brush with violence. He was shot in the leg in 2014. And just three weeks ago, his girlfriend was shot and killed while the two were together. Now, many are hoping for a change.

DOZIER: He hated funerals. He always hated them and he would never stay. And so, you know, just keep thinking like, now we're attending his funeral, you know. It's just unfortunate.

YOUNG: Ana, when you think about the fact that this young man did see his girlfriend get killed just three weeks prior to him getting shot and killed, you can see how the violence has spread across this city.

In fact, more than 1,200 people have been shot this year. And it's on pace to reach 500 homicides. So if you are fighting the changes, we're just not sure if they can happen this summer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Ryan Young, thank you for putting a face to this senseless violence. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CABRERA: In this week's "American Opportunity," the 2016 presidential election has awakened working-class white Americans and reshaped the course of the campaign.

The dramatic declined of manufacturing in coal production jobs over the last decades have hurt blue-collar workers in states all across the country. In fact, nearly eight-quarter of white men with only a high school diploma are not working.

Many of them not just unemployed, they are not even looking for a job. They feel left behind. They're bringing all their anger to the polls, particularly on the Republican side.

CNN Money went in search of these men who feel forgotten by both Washington and the American economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[19:35:00] MICHAEL CAVINS, STARTED WORKING AT MILLS PRIDE: I think companies need to give America a try again instead of sending it somewhere else.

I think America needs more opportunity for the blue collar worker, I guess.

I started working at Mills Pride. It's a cabinet factory. Kitchen cabinets, many of these, sink basins, pantries, utilities. Then when they went out, I was kind of lost. I didn't know what else to do. Getting up, going to work. Going to work, work for 20 years. Then lose a job. Then just like, well, what am I going to do now?

STEVE STURGILL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY ACTION OF SCIOTO COUNTY: The heyday, so to speak, Scioto County and the city enforcement was during the late '60s, early '70s and we had a very strong manufacturing base. We were at one time the shoe manufacturer in the world. We were a very well-organized working middle-class community.

CAVINS: Knowing now what I didn't know then, I would make myself go back to school. I was a young, naive kid. So I declined going on to school, college.

STURGILL: Most people, they didn't go to college. And fortunately for us, most of the jobs that we had at the time didn't require that. Then between '71 and '78, most of the shoe manufacturers went out as well. So this community changed drastically in the '70s.

CAVINS: I don't think we're a great country anymore. If I could tell either one of the candidates, if you're going to say you're going to bring jobs, bring jobs back. You know, don't just say it and then push it off to the side. We need somebody out there that's looking out for America and not wanting to send it here, send it there because it's cheaper.

I think we need somebody that will say, "I'm going to bring business back. I'm going to bring jobs back." And actually do it. You just got to give the person like me or -- the opportunity to help build this back up instead of just letting it fall away to the wayside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: You can se more of the CNNMoney report on cnnmoney.com/americanopportunity.

Now, Donald Trump has connected with many of these blue-collar white men, tapping into their anger, promising to bring jobs back to America. Let's talk more about how this group is shaping this year's election.

Back with me is Ryan Lizza from The New Yorker, Maria Cardona, Democratic superdelegate and Hillary Clinton supporter, and Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes.

Ryan, we'll start with you this time. Let's face it, when it comes to jobs we have advances in technology, automation, all this taking human beings out of the production loop in a lot of industries. Is Donald Trump being realistic with blue-collar white men about their job prospects?

LIZZA: Well, if he's saying that the people who have not benefited from globalization and the off-shoring of jobs, if he's saying that, well, he's going to bring all of those jobs back and everything is going to be the way it was, you know, 30, 40 years ago, then no. He's not being honest.

But if he's saying that, you know, as a government we need to do something -- we have to recognize that free trade, which both parties have supported for decades now, has created an economy that has both winners and losers and the losers have been suffering for quite a long time because their wages have been completely stagnant.

And if he's saying that we need to do more to address that phenomenon, then yeah, I think if he came up with a coherent plan, then I think he would be -- that would be something that would actually be helpful.

I think the strain of economic populism that he's tapped into could potentially be very, very strong against a Democratic candidate. It's a lot of the other things that Trump says that gets him in trouble and alienates a lot of other groups.

So if he wants, you know, if I were his strategist I would be telling him, focus on the economic populism, you know, not so much the xenophobia and the things that alienate the nonwhite voters.

CABRERA: Scottie, let's talk more about Trump's plan. He has said he wants to get rid of the American trade deals with China and Mexico. But a lot of economists say those trade deals really will have little net effect on the U.S. jobs. Besides the trade deals what else are you hearing from Donald Trump in terms of his plans to revive blue- collar jobs here in America?

HUGHES: Well, it's simple. He wants to level the playing field and he wants to stop incentivizing these companies to move outside of the United States in order to have their production in the employed people. He wants to keep ...

[19:40:02] CABRERA: But Donald Trump went producing (ph) Chinese ties.

HUGHES: He was doing it because of the cost of the product. He could not make a product here in the United States right now with workers and the product would be too high, people would not have bought it that point.

I mean, he is also -- he has to believe -- he is also the businessman. So we had actually provided and actually meet the bottom line. But here's what's interesting when you look at it, when you realized that we have the highest corporate income tax right in the entire world of 35 percent that is his number one idea is let's reduce that down.

Let's actually continue to incentivize these companies instead of having them go to Mexico, go to China. Bring them back into the United States. We're sitting here and we can export goods for maybe 1 percent, 2 percent, to other countries. Yet those countries, when they export goods, they charge. They say they are in-charge for the imports 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent.

We are not on a level playing field and yet we're sitting here and we're employing or sending money to all these other countries. Donald, all he wants to do is bring that back and that story right there is heartbreaking.

And we could fight about these social issues as Ryan brought up, but in the end I think what unifies the American spirit is that we all going to provide for ourselves and for our families.

And that is what Mr. Trump has done because he's actually created jobs. He's the only candidate out there that has created a job and that resonates whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, liberal, conservative, you want send me the data toward hope, but actually action and Mr. Trump has done that.

CABRERA: Maria, Democrats, you know, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton really has struggled with this same group. Trump definitely has a message that's resonating with this group.

CARDONA: Sure.

CABRERA: What does she do to make them feel like they're being heard?

CARDONA: Well, I think what she does is what she has been doing up until now and will continue to do ...

CABRERA: But it's not working what she's been doing up until now.

CARDONA: Well actually, if you look at the states that she has won in the primary, she has won a lot of those Midwestern states. She is winning union households, which a lot of these men are union members.

And so I think she starts out from the standpoint of talking about what her real plans are. She talks about job training, which is something that in your piece I think it was an incredibly important focus.

She talks about going to college, because, you know, literally today, you will not be as well off as your parents if you -- or as past generations who could have gone away with just going to high school if you don't have a college degree.

So she is focusing on how the economics of today's economy have changed and what Americans need to have to be able to get the jobs, the good-paying jobs of today, the good-paying jobs of tomorrow, and to also focus on making sure that companies are incentivized to stay here.

That's actually something that I agree with Scottie on, but I think it's a question of how you do it. You know, Donald Trump has talked about punishing companies when they go abroad, or essentially saying that we're going to start charging all these tariffs.

Well, the fact of the matter is that you need legislation to change all of that and I don't think that's something that Donald Trump understands. So she's going to focus on an inspirational message, on a message that brings us together, not divides us.

And the other thing that she's focused on is on making sure she speaks to all Americans. You know, Democrats have not won the white working- class male vote and probably two generations. And we're in a point right now where Donald Trump is more in a difficult position because he actually has to grow his vote with minorities and women and the way that he's going now, that's going to be an impossibility for him.

CABRERA: All right, Maria Cardona, Ryan Lizza, Scottie Nell Hughes, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you.

RIZZA: Thanks.

HUGHES: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Still ahead, a look at Donald Trump's loyal fan base in China. Despite comments like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What's going on with China is unbelievable.

China is taking our jobs, our money, our base, our manufacturing.

China has absolutely -- it's been one of the great thefts of all-time what they've done to the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:08] CABRERA: Donald Trump hammers China almost as often as he slams Hillary Clinton. So why then does he have so many admirers in that country? CNN's Matt Rivers hit the streets of Beijing to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We can't continue to allow China to rape our country. And that's what they're doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tough talk about trade from the Republican presumptive nominee against one of his top targets. Yet here in China there is respect and even admiration for Donald Trump.

GU YU, CHINESE TECH ENTREPRENEUR: I think Donald Trump have the guts to say everything that normal people in the rest of society feared to say.

RIVERS: Gu Yu is a young Chinese tech entrepreneur, part of a vocal group of Chinese fans of the billionaire business man.

One social media user on Chinese Twitter equivalent, Weibo (ph) says, "Hillary Clinton just makes empty promises while Trump is the king of doing what he says." Another calls him, "sharp and pragmatic." One person even said, "They'd vote for him because he so is handsome."

A face Chinese audience has got to know from his days on "Celebrity Apprentice," a hit here in China.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're fired.

RIVERS: From T.V. to books, Trump's best-seller "The Art of the Deal" in mandarin is found in bookstores across Beijing. His success as a businessman is no doubt part of his appeal as a politician. Some Chinese see a rich billionaire and want to be just like him.

Like the owner of Trump consulting, a Chinese real estate firm named after the candidate himself. The irony, the owner tells CNN, "Donald Trump is a political clown, but I wouldn't change my company name for that. He's a real estate tycoon, after all."

His feelings on Trump the politician shared by the media here. In March, the state-run newspaper "The Global Times" called Trump a rich narcissist and a clown for statements like this.

TRUMP: Negotiating with China, when these people walk in there they don't say, "Oh, hello, how's the weather, so beautiful outside." They say, "We want deal."

RIVERS: Even with all the bluster, Trump Tower is still a popular destination for tourists from mainland China and Taiwan visiting New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's like a superstar, you know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody likes Trump, you know, so I come to see it. I wish that Trump would wave.

RIVERS: Still, not everyone is a fan. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he becomes the president, I am a little bit scared.

RIVERS: The Chinese, just like many Americans, with no shortage of opinions on Donald Trump. Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And after the break, one year ago a biker brawl in Waco, Texas, left nine bikers dead. But some so-called motorcycle club members think incidents like that gave them all a bad rap. I'll have a sneak peek inside their world, the world of the biker gangs, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:53:13] CABRERA: It has been a year since one of the deadliest shootouts an outlaw biker history. To recall, last May, nine people died and dozen others injured as two rival motorcycle clubs opened fire on each other at a restaurant in Waco, Texas.

In a special report, CNN's Ed Lavandera takes you into a world where cameras' never been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK SWANTON, POLICE SERGEANT, WACO, TEXAS: At last count we have 170 individuals that we have arrested.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The count grows to an unprecedented 170 bikers arrested ...

MATT CLENDENNEN, ONE OF ABOUT 170 ARRESTED IN THE RIOTS IN 2015 WACO SHOOTOUT: I believe it was 16 days.

LAVANDERA: ... including Matt Clendennen who says he took cover in the bathroom during the melee.

CLENDENNEN: Why would they feel the need to take over 170 people and put us behind bars just because we were there and we were riding a motorcycle? It makes no sense to me.

LAVANDERA: There were so many bikers arrested. They had to bring them here to the Waco Convention Center. Police divided rival bikers into separate rooms where they were processed and held into the middle of the night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, we were zip-tied and lay on the floor of the convention center and stayed zip-tied for 18, 19 hours. I was just in shock.

LAVANDERA: Video and audio clips obtained by CNN captured the chaotic scene inside the convention center, as police interrogate biker after biker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you physically yourself see anybody shoot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there was no idea that this all was going to happen today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think anybody knew?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure they did.

[19:55:03] LAVANDERA: Some bikers are belligerent. Others, it seems are in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I rode in with Rick Kirschner. He's actually -- he's in the hospital at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he have a nickname?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Could you tell me how he's doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want me to tell you how he's doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's dead.

LAVANDERA: The story this biker tells is about his own son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I shoved him off me, as soon as the gun stopped, I started going back because my son got shot in the head and bleeding out next to me. And I started trying to deal him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And was that one of your brothers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My son.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your son? Your son got shot. I'm sorry, man I did not know that. I did not know that.

LAVANDERA: After the interrogations, a see of mug shots are released, then bikers are taken to jail and slapped with $1 million bonds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And that was Ed Lavandera reporting. He's worked really hard on this special. Don't miss it. It's CNN's Special Report, "BIKER BRAWL, INSIDE THE TEXAS SHOOTOUT." It airs Monday night at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: How about some feel-good news before we let you go? The sweetest face you're going see all weekend, and this is a hero story, too. Take a look.

This is House, a German Shepherd, recovering tonight from three rattlesnake bites that happened while he was r-protecting his family's 7-year old girl from a snake in their backyard.

House is going to be all right with a little help from some on-line friends because the donation sites that setup to help with all the vet bills which are really expenses requested $28,000. It received more than $52,000.

And the family says, they're going to donate what's left over to the animal rescue charities in their neighborhood.

House was rescued and adopted by this family just two months ago, already so loyal.

Next on CNN at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, "THE EIGHTIES: TEAR DOWN THIS WALL." At 9:00, "THE EIGHTIES: GREED IS GOOD."

Thank you for joining me. I'm Ana Cabrera, New York. Have a great night.