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Sources indicate "National Enquirer" Chief Talking to New York Prosecutors about Trump Organization's Hush Money Payments; Bloomberg Launches First Campaign Appearance in Virginia; Young African Elephants Shipped to China and Held in Cages; Concern's Grow Over Justice Ginsburg's Heath. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 25, 2019 - 15:30   ET

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

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Just into CNN, sources are telling us that David Pecker -- he is the head of the company that publishes "The National Enquirer" -- he's spoken now with New York prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization's handling of those hush money payments to women who alleged they had affairs with Donald Trump. Kara Scannell is breaking the story. She's talking with sources about these meetings.

And so, David Pecker, a name we haven't talked about for a minute. But he goes way back with Donald Trump. Part of a lot of those catch and kill deals, the fact that he's talking is a big deal.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Yes, I mean David Pecker, a longtime friend of Donald Trump's. He had met with Trump and Michael Cohen -- another name we haven't talked about for a while -- about these catch and kill deals and was involved in two of these hush money payments. One made to Stormy Daniels and one made to Karen McDougal. And so now we've learned that late last month David Pecker met with prosecutors from the New York Manhattan District Attorney's office -- Cy Vance's office -- who are investigating the hush money payments that the Trump organization had made.

They're looking into this to see whether the Trump Organization or Trump himself or any executives there had violated state laws. One way that they're looking at this is whether they had violated any laws by falsifying business records. So as part of this investigation, they're now talking to people. They've talked to David Pecker. Sources tell myself and my colleague Mark Morales, and they've also met with Michael Cohen. They've met with Cohen now three times up at the federal prison in Otisville, New York, where he's serving a three- year prison sentence for these hush money payments. As he pled guilty to, now a year and a half or so ago in the federal case there about the campaign violations.

So this shows that the DA's office investigation is still ongoing, even as their fight to obtain Donald Trump's tax returns is now heading to the Supreme Court -- Brooke. BALDWIN: Keep digging, thank you so much for relaying this information that these gentlemen are talking to prosecutors. Kara, thank you.

Moments ago, Michael Bloomberg held his first official campaign event in the 2020 race. One of my next guests says the former Mayor is the antidote to Trump and the other says, maybe not. We'll hash that out with these two next.

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BALDWIN: This just in, for his first official campaign stop as Democratic candidate for president. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg right now is in Norfolk, Virginia meeting with supporters at a coffee shop. Norfolk is largely a military community. And moments ago he attacked President Trump for his role in this Navy SEAL controversy that we were just talking about a moment ago. That led to the firing of the Navy Secretary.

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MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every day it seems to bring another example of just how unfit he is to serve as our President and Commander in Chief. And this week was no exception. Yesterday many of you read the President forced out the Secretary of the Navy, a Marine veteran, for upholding the military's commitment to the rule of law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bloomberg's new candidacy faces a number of obstacles. First, he's late in the game. He brings his $50 billion fortune to a field that has railed against billionaires. And he's shadowed by stop and frisk, the controversial New York Police policy he supported while Mayor.

So, with me now, Bradley Honan, he's a former campaign associate of Michael Bloomberg, and is the currently the CEO of Insights and Strategy, a Democratic polling and analytics firm. And also with me, CNN political commentator Charles Blow who's an op ed columnist for The New York Times. So gentlemen, a pleasure. Let's begin with you, sir. So what is your 30 second pitch. Why is Bloomberg the guy?

BRADLEY HONAN, FORMER BLOOMBERG CAMPAIGN ASSOCIATE: Bloomberg is coming into this race at a very unusual moment in American history. He's entering the race late and there are implications for how he needs to run his campaign. Bloomberg is a very, very unique individual who's thinking typically two or three chess places ahead of everybody else playing. He combines experience running the largest municipal government in the United States. He's a high impact philanthropist, addressing the most vexing public policy issues, and he has a record of success in the private sector, creating a lot of jobs. I think voters are looking for a real contrast with Donald Trump in the Democratic primary. And Bloomberg brings, obviously, a very, very different kind of profile than any other candidates.

BALDWIN: So, I want to hear from you, Charles in a second. But I read your opinion piece on CNN.com, one of the lines you used was, you know, he's been registered as a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, but couldn't you also flip that and use that against him? Like why should he be the guy among the Democrats, if he's been all of the above?

HONAN: There's going to be a lot that's coming out, criticizing all the candidates for lots of things they have done or they haven't done. I think at this time at this very unique time in history, what the party is searching for, and I would argue what America is searching for is consensus, unity and civility.

BALDWIN: But who is his constituency?

HONAN: I think he reaches into a lot of different constituencies. I mean he's tackled big challenging issues that frankly nobody had the courage to take on or frankly the ability to take on. Climate change, the warming planet.

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Gun control, standing up to the NRA, addressing issues here in New York City when he was Mayor. Taking cigarettes out of the hands of kids, obesity, and diabetes. He brings a very different package and a very different profile than most candidates we've ever seen.

BALDWIN: Charles Blow, what do you think of Mayor Bloomberg for President?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think all those things are true. But his callousness around the issue of stop and frisk is a nonstarter for me. Like I can't get over it, because it is not -- he knew that it was impacting those communities in the way that it was, this is not a casual thing. Imagine you having a stranger with a gun constantly touching your body, right? That's what's happen to these boys. There was one football coach in Brownsville where like there was like 50,000 stops over four years, which was one stop for every person living there, right.

And they weren't stopping old people, that meant some of these boys were getting stopped multiple times. Football coach had these football players start wearing their football helmets home just to try to differentiate his boys who were constantly being stopped and frisked from everybody else. That's a traumatic thing.

I have a kid who's had an encounter with police. I've had that sort of situation where somebody -- and it is not something that's just like no harm, no foul. You just go on about your business and you never think about it again. No, they can carry that trauma. And the fact that he knew it wasn't working in that way, and he cheered for it and he defended it, and even after he left office -- he hasn't been in office, you know what, five, six years now. Even after he left office, he saw that when they stopped it that crime rate continued to fall, so that he knew it wasn't working in the way he always said, and still, January of this year, he was still saying he defended it. I'm sorry, either you --

BALDWIN: He did apologize last weekend, but I hear you saying he as recently as January, defended it. How do you defend Mayor Bloomberg?

HONAN: Charles is a terrific writer, I'm a big fan of his work and his analysis, and he's raising important things that should be discussed. And I think we hope can be discussed as part of the campaign. Mike Bloomberg apologized. He said he was sorry. He didn't do that through a press release. He went to an important black cultural and religious institution and said, I'm sorry.

But one anecdote that has always struck me, Brooke, is that when Mike Bloomberg was on a college campus as a young man with a scholarship, working parking cars, every week Mike Bloomberg wrote a check to the NAACP, before he had any money in his pocket. And if you're wondering where Bloomberg's heart is, I think that tells you a lot.

BALDWIN: Actually, I think to that point, let me just play the sound. I see your face, but we talked to Reverend Bernard last week after Mike Bloomberg came to his church, and this is how he sees it.

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REV. A.R. BERNARD, FOUNDER AND PASTOR, CHRISTIAN CULTURAL CENTER: I personally experienced being pulled over while I was on the advisory council for Commissioner Shafer back in the '90s, you know and I was profiled. You know, and I get it, and we have to have these conversations. In 2011, Bloomberg's last term, he launched a $127 million initiative toward cutting down on the factors that result in higher rates of incarceration, poverty and unemployment for young black and Latinos. So he was trying to respond to those years that he supported that. And I think that -- you know, that doesn't get told.

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BALDWIN: I just wanted to be fair and play that. Charles, last word to you, just coming out --

BLOW: No, I just think Democratic voters are going to have a decision to make. And black people and Hispanic people are going to be watching them. Because you have 20 options. If you are -- you have so little empathy for the pain that Michael Bloomberg caused to young black and brown men. And you put black people and Hispanic people in the position where they have to choose between Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump, and that is on you. And if people are not excited about that and not excited to go out and vote because you do that to them? That is on you.

BALDWIN: OK. Gentlemen, Bradley Honan and Charles Blow, thank you both very much on Mayor Bloomberg for President here.

Coming up next, the CNN exclusive, we've videoed dozens of young African elephants held in steel cages in China. Hear what national park officials in Zimbabwe had to say when CNN confronted them.

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BALDWIN: Now, to a heartbreaking CNN exclusive that is sparking worldwide outrage. Dozens of young elephants that were roaming free just a couple weeks ago are now being held in cages. Officials in Zimbabwe captured and sold the animals to China. They say it is to pay for conservation efforts. CNN's David McKenzie has more in his exclusive report.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT 30 young wild young wild African elephants, captured, sold and sent to China to fill amusement parks and zoos. But first, they will be broken here. This cellphone video is an exclusive look at the latest shipment from Zimbabwe. In cage after metal cage, the signs of suffering are clear.

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Just weeks ago, they were among family groups in Hwange National Park.

(on camera): What they do when they capture these elephants, is they separate the youngsters. Not the very youngest but the young elephant from the rest of the herd. And scientists say that elephants are incredibly social animals. They develop bonds for a lifetime. And by ripping them away from their families and sending them off to a foreign country, they say, it's extremely traumatic for the elephants that go and the elephants that remain.

(voice-over): Despite this concerns, the trade up until now has been legal. But that window is closing. New rules preventing overseas shipments from countries like Zimbabwe come into full effect at the end of November. Zimbabwe park officials say, they will abide by those new rules.

CHRISPEN CHIKADAYA, ZIMBABWE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: There's no transparency anymore.

MCKENZIE: But animal rights inspector Chrispen Chikadaya, says he's already seen a shift towards secrecy.

CHIKADAYA: Something is not right.

MCKENZIE: For the past year, officials blocked his team from entering the park, claiming they needed special permits that were not actually required. He fears that the already opaque sales won't end, they'll just go underground.

(on camera): What was it like being pushed away?

CHIKADAYA: I mean, the government-appointed the inspector. And it's our mandate to see the welfare of those animals. They don't belong to national parks. They belong to the people of Zimbabwe. MCKENZIE: So now, we got the GPS coordinates of where we think these elephants have been kept. There are some 30 elephants that were shipped to China caused global outrage.

(voice-over): Animal rights activists and park sources told us that just beyond this boom gate, elephants were left behind and were getting prepped to be sent away.

(on camera): But it is not possible to come in now with you just to have a look?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't think. Certainly not this place, for all of the clients who come here, they are cleared by the manager.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): We went to management and we are repeatedly refused entry. They told us there was nothing to see. But they did agree to an on-camera interview.

(on camera): Why is Zimbabwe selling elephants to China?

TINASHE FARAWO, SPOKESMAN, ZIMPARKS: It's part of our management plan. We have rangers in this park who will spend 21 days in the bush protecting these animals. They don't have uniforms. They don't have boots. They don't have tents and they don't have food. As an authority, we believe that the elephants must pay for their upkeep. They must also pay for their protection. It's one of the elephants affected on this program.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But protection for Zimbabwe's wild elephants is far from assured. Elephants are dying. More than 200 in just the last few months, succumbing to the severe drought that hit the region. In these lean season, elephants in the wild are suffering too. Like ranger Oscar Sibanda, says, better to let nature take its course.

(on camera): And do you think it's good that some elephants are sent away to zoos in China, Pakistan, the U.S.?

OSCAR SIBANDA, HWANGE RANGER: No I don't think it's wise. It is part of our country, it is our animals, our children. They're children.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But these elephants taken from Zimbabwe, remain trapped far from home.

David McKenzie, CNN, Hwange.

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BALDWIN: I can't -- I can't -- David McKenzie, thank you so much, for shining the light and we'll stay on that. Elephants.

Meantime, here at home, Rudy Giuliani said he was joking after saying he has, quote-unquote insurance if the President turns on him. Well the President just responded.

And new concerns about the health of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We have an update coming up. [15:55:00]

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BALDWIN: Right now Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is back at work after being hospitalized just over this weekend. The 86-year- old had chills and a fever and it came just days after the four-time cancer survivor missed a day in court due to a stomach bug. CNN's Supreme Court analyst, Joan Biskupic, is with me. And Joan, how is she doing?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Well, her presence was very much felt today at the court through the orders that they issued this morning, and now she's alive, well and in good spirits at a musical performance at the court. So she's in sort of a semi-public venue right now within the confines of the court and I expect that she'll be back on the bench on Monday, next Monday when the court resumes hearing cases.

So this is all a very good sign given that she spent two nights in the hospital over the weekend. But you know the consequences if she were to feel the need to retire are so significant that you know if Ruth Bader Ginsburg catches a cold, gets the chills, has a stomach bug, we all pay attention.

BALDWIN: Everybody wants to know about it.

BISKUPIC: That's right. And I'll tell you why. If she were to leave -- big "if", Brooke, if she were to leave the bench, President Trump would get a third appointment to America's highest court. And this would be the most consequential appointment because he would be able to replace one of the most liberal members of the bench with a conservative. And this would play out in so many areas of the law. But as we're seeing, the notorious RBG is notoriously resilient -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: She is indeed. She's incredible. Joan Biskupic, thank you very much. It is a big if. We wish her of course only the best health.

Thank you so much for being with me these last two hours. We'll see you back here tomorrow. I'm Brooke Baldwin. "THE LEAD" starts right now.

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