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Woodward Releasing Audiobook With More Than 8 Hrs Of Trump Tapes; Many Candidates Pivot To More Moderate Messaging As Elections Near; Study: Some Chemical Hair Relaxers Linked To Uterine Cancer Risk; Special Master Seeks More Info From DOJ & Trump On Mar-A-Lago Docs. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired October 18, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:37]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: CNN has exclusively obtained audio of conversations between Journalist Bob Woodward and former President Trump. Woodward is releasing more than eight hours of his conversations with the former president and his closest allies.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: He's releasing that audio for a new audio book, called "The Trump Tapes," based on interviews from 2016 through 2020, which would Woodward used for his book "Rage."
So here's a clip where the president is talking about his speech writing process.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
BOB WOODWARD, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST & AUTHOR: Did somebody help you?
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATS: Yes, I get people, they come up with ideas. But the ideas are mine, Bob.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: You want to know something? Everything is mine.
(END AUDIO FEED)
HILL: CNN special correspondent, Jamie Gangel, joins us live.
Jamie, everything is his. What more are we learning?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: This is classic Donald Trump, guys.
Bob Woodward is doing something he's never done before. He's opening up his reporter's notebook. These are raw audio tapes. You're in the room. What you hear is Donald Trump unvarnished, blunt, profane.
No surprise. He is attacking people he doesn't like. He is boasting about himself.
And here's a sense of what you hear.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Woodward, the president.
TRUMP: Hi, Bob.
My whole life has been deals. I've done great, far greater than people understand.
I respect Putin. I think Putin likes me. I think I like him.
Law and order, Bob, law and order.
WOODWARD: Why don't you give me your taxes?
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I said to the king, King, you have to pay us for protection.
If it weren't for us.
(END AUDIO FEED)
GANGEL: Why don't you give me your taxes? He didn't get his taxes.
But he got a lot of other things. There are also some moments that undoubtedly made Trump's national security staff very unhappy.
Such as where Trump shared classified documents with Bob Woodward, such as those now infamous love letters from North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un, that we know Trump took to Mar-a-Lago.
Listen to what Trump says to Bob Woodward as he hands them over.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
TRUMP: Nobody else has them, but I want you to treat them with respect.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODWARD: I understand. I understand.
TRUMP: Don't say I gave them to you.
WOODWARD: OK.
TRUMP: I think it's OK. Normally -- I wasn't going to give them to Bob, you know?
What, do you make a photostat of them or something?
WOODWARD: No, I dictate them into a tape recorder. TRUMP: Really?
WOODWARD: Yes.
(END AUDIO FEED)
GANGEL: Don't say I gave them to you. It's really a classics example of what Woodward says in the audio book is a casual, dangerous, cavalier way that Trump dealt with classified information.
It's also a stark reminder of Trump as president. As we now know, he's floating the idea that he wants to run again in 2024.
BLACKWELL: This exchange with the Kim Jong-Un letter is really remarkable. He hands them over and says, what are you going to do, copy them, OK, sure.
We've heard some of this before.
GANGEL: That's right.
HILL: I understand there are some new recordings?
GANGEL: Absolutely. Woodward is also including never-before-heard interviews with Trump's then-national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, his deputy, Matthew Pottinger.
And in addition, you hear in the background, it's sort of like Trump's court, audio with Trump advisers, his family. You hear Donald Trump Jr, Melania, Lindsey Graham, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, among others.
Also, Victor and Erica, it's important to know throughout the audio tapes Woodward intersperses his own commentary.
In the epilogue, Woodward declares his that his own past assessment of Trump did not go far enough. This is unqualified.
Woodward now says, quote, "Trump is an unparalleled danger. The record now shows that Trump has led and continues to lead a sedition conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, which, in effect, is an effort to destroy democracy."
[14:35:05]
And the audio book will be released by Simon & Schuster next week -- Victor and Erica?
BLACKWELL: Jamie Gangel, with the exclusive. Thank you, Jamie.
GANGEL: Thank you.
HILL: Where's the beef? That takes back to the '80s. We all remember the ad. This is more serious.
A special master who was appointed to deal with the documents from Mar-a-Lago is asking where the beef is. Asking for more information from both the DOJ and Trump's lawyers. Why? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:12]
BLACKWELL: Candidates are formulating the closing arguments ahead of the midterMs.
Pennsylvania Republican Mehmet Oz is trying to strike a more moderate tone to pick up Independent voters. Oz leaned heavily on Trump's endorsement for most of his campaign, especially during the primary, but is now calling for less extremism in a new ad.
(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)
MEHMET OZ, (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR PENNSYLVANIA: Why does John Fetterman take everything to the extreme? What are we letting murderers out? Why is the solution always tax and spend. Extremism on both sides makes things worse. We need balance, less extremism in Washington.
(END AUDIO FEED)
HILL: Joining us now, CNN political commentator, Errol Louis, Democratic strategist, Adrienne Elrod, and Republican strategist, Doug Heye.
Nice to see you all today.
Errol, Mehmet Oz wants less extremism now. Let that simmer for a minute.
In all seriousness, we all see it -- make go hard on the extremism, but you try to bring it back to the center because you need the votes.
In reality, where do we stand right now, three weeks from the election? What is your sense, especially with some of these hotly contested races getting national attention, how much substance are voters getting versus sound bytes?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: People are getting substance, but not specific policy substance. They're getting substance in the form of, hey, aren't prices too high? Aren't you worried about abortion? Aren't you worried about crimes? Aren't you worried about extremism?
They're painting it in broad strokes. We're not talking about the five-point plan that they have.
What each party is trying to do is motivate their followers to come out. They're not necessarily trying to persuade anybody at this point.
All of the new women we saw that registered after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, now you have to get them to the polls. You have to pound that message home and get them out. Likewise, you're trying to tell people it's time for a change because prices are too high, just throw out the party in power, and that happens to be the Democrats. You don't have to give particulars. All you have to do is remind people they paid too much at the pump today.
BLACKWELL: Doug, let's go to Utah. We've got a 20-point win for Trump in 2020 in Urah.
It hasn't been represented by anybody other than Republicans in the Senate for the last 50 years. But you have Independent Evan McMullin, at least giving the Republican incumbent, Mike Lee, a run for his money.
What is happening here? And is Lee really in jeopardy of losing this seat?
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He's in jeopardy of losing it if he doesn't take it seriously. They had the debate last night. We see he is taking it seriously.
Given Trump's margin, you would think it's a slam dunk, but it's not. McMullin is possibly able to appeal to some conservatives. Certainly, moderates.
The Trump margin should be enough for Mike Lee, but he has to bring this home.
Evan McMullin said he wouldn't caucus with either party. Which means he'll breaks free the system of Senate partisanship or he doesn't know how he will serve on a committee.
That's something he'll have to explain to Utah voters in the weeks ahead.
BLACKWELL: I've wondered how -- we've talked about this.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: You need to explain it to Victor. Victor has a lot of questions.
BLACKWELL: The committee assignments, the allotment for floor time, how do you get it if you're not aligned with a party?
HILL: We'll see if we can get that question.
While we're waiting on the answer to this one, I have this one for you, Adrienne.
If we're look at Errol's point about all these women who we saw registered to vote, now the goal is to get them out. President Biden came out, speaking about abortion rights, what his plan would be post- election.
Victor asking Kate Bedingfield why abortion now, and there wasn't really an answer except it's massively important. If your advising the president or the Democrats, knowing the polling
shows the most important issues are the economy and inflation, what is your negligence of what they need to do in terms of messaging?
ADRIENNE ELROD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The president is talking about the economy, inflation, talking about the fact that Democrats and Democrats alone passed the Inflation Reduction Act this year in Congress, which put a lot of money into pockets of American families.
But I think what Kate Bedingfield said was exactly right. It's important. The president made is a priority, even in light of the Supreme Court overturning Roe. He's passed a number of executive orders that's helped strengthen the reproductive rights of women to the extent that they can in certain states.
But again, what this also has the benefit of doing is what matters to swing voters, what matters to the keep suburban women who turned the tide in favor of Democrats in 2018, and who I think at the very least will mitigate some of the losses.
So, not only is President Biden making it very clear that he's the president that will do everything within his power to protect women's reproduction rights in light of this decision, but he also happens to be talking about the issues that matter to voters going into the midterms.
[14:45:11]
BLACKWELL: Errol, next on the tour is Ohio. The debate last night, Tim Ryan highlighted that J.D. Vance has talked about the Great Replacement Theory, saying that potentially whites are being replaced by minorities and immigrants.
Here is the response from J.D. Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, (R), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FROM OHIO: Here's exactly what happens when the media and people like Tim Ryan accuse me of engaging the Great Replacement Theories.
(CROSSTALK)
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH) & SENATE CANDIDATE: You are --
(CROSSTALK)
VANCE: I'll tell you exactly what happens, Tim. What happens is that my own children, my biracial children get attacked by scumbags online and in person, because you are so desperate for political power, that you'll accuse me, the father of three beautiful biracial babies, of engaging in racism? We are sick of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: That's an impassioned response. But here is J.D. Vance talking about the Great Replacement Theory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Democrat politicians who have decided they can't win reelection in 2022 unless they bring in a large number of new voters to replace the voter already here. That's what this is about. We have an invasion in this country because very powerful people get richer and more powerful because of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: I understand he defended his children. But he is there pushing this theory.
LOUIS: Sure. We all heard what he said. This is someone who, perhaps because he's new to politics, doesn't understand telling people what they feel like hearing will lead to inconsistency inconsistencies.
Caught out in a debate, he tries to bring his children in. He tries to disavow it. Oh, I don't want nothing to all extremists.
He catered to those extremists. He wants them to come out and vote. It's the same dilemma that many, many Republican candidates find themselves in.
They've got extremists have been supporting them. But they've been using buzz words and not very clever or mysterious ones, and now they have to live with the consequences.
BLACKWELL: Errol, Adrienne, Doug, thank you.
HEYE: Thank you.
HILL: A new study links chemical hair straighteners to a high risk of uterine cancer. We'll tell you who may be most affected. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:51:26]
HILL: New research indicates that certain hair straightener products and chemicals reactors have been linked to an increased risk of uterine cancer.
BLACKWELL: It's a finding that could have major implications, especially for black women, who tend to use these products frequently.
CNN's health report, Jacqueline Howard, is here.
Tell us more about this one.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Victor, I can tell you this study is concerning when you look at numbers. The researchers said they found a twofold increased risk of uterine
cancer among women reporting frequently using these hair straightening products compared with those who said they do not use these products.
This was found among more than 30,000 women. And here are the numbers. The researchers estimate that the risk of uterine cancer among women who said they never have used the products is 1.6 percent. Among women who did report frequent use, that risk was 4.05 percent.
Frequent use means they used the products more than four times in the previous year.
The overall risk to uterine cancer appears to be low, because we're talking about 1 percent compared with 4 percent. But that difference, Victor and Erica, is what's really concerning and what's drawing attention.
Now we also know that hair straightening chemical products have been associated with breast cancer and ovarian cancer. This study is now being added to that list.
The reason why? Chemicals in these products have impacts on hormones. They're called hormone disrupters. And by doing so, they can increase the risk of hormone-sensitive cancers. That's why we've seen these associations.
We've also seen an association with an increased risk of uterine fibroids. So this is an active area of research, Victor and Erica. Again, this is being looked at very closely.
HILL: Yes. A lot of people looking for more answers after hearing this this morning.
Jacqueline Howard, so important. Thank you.
BLACKWELL: Economists warn America's high inflation coupled with Fed rate hikes will push the economy into a 1990-style recession by next year. That's means, it's kind of short and shallow. There's a silver lining, though, and we'll tell you about it ahead.
HILL: I love silver linings.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:58:19]
BLACKWELL: The special master appointed in the Mar-a-Lago documents case is openly frustrated with the limited information he's received from the Justice Department and from Donald Trump's defense lawyers.
HILL: Judge Raymond Dearie summarizing his annoyance by referencing a well-known phrase from the '80s: "Where's the beef?," he said. "I need some beef."
CNN's Katelyn Polantz.
OK, so, what's the beef that the judge needs?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME & JUSTICE REPORTER: Victor and Erica, so far, it's a slow and potentially messy process for this judge to work through all of the documents that were seized at Mar-a- Lago in August.
Right now, Judge Raymond Dearie has Donald Trump's team on one side saying they want to protect certain records, to keep them confidential, claiming they're personal or attorney communications.
And the Justice Department is pushing back on that. The investigators want some of those documents for their criminal investigation.
But Judge Dearie, who, as the court-appointed special master, needs to figure out what happens with each document in dispute. He's saying that either side is not telling him enough details, enough facts so that he can make decisions. Hence, that remark form him today, "Where's the beef?"
One example he gave today was a letter apparently written by a lawyer for Trump. He wanted to know if that letter was sent. Supposedly an easy fact to determine. But he hasn't gotten any answer on that yet.
So in this case, today, in a conference, his words to both sides were, " don't want to be dealing with nonsense objections, I have no patience from either of you on this point."
Victor and Erica, both sides now have deadline in about a month where they need to decide their positions on nearly 22,000 pages of records.
Then Judge Dearie will come in and will have until mid-December to work through all of the disputes in that pile.
Back to you.
[14:59:58]
BLACKWELL: Katelyn Polantz, thank you.
Top of the new hour now. Good to have you. I'm Victor Blackwell. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.
HILL: And I'm Erica Hill.
