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New Day

Trump's Treatment Of Women Under Scrutiny; Trump Calls NY Times Report A "Lame Hit Piece"; George Zimmerman's Gun Re-Listed For Auction; One Year Later Most Bikers Arrested In Waco Biker Shootout Still Awaiting Trial. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired May 16, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:31:00]ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump coming under fire in a "New York Times" report for his past treatment of women. Trump dismissing the report as a "lame hit piece" and firing back with a series of tweets. Will any of this slow Trump's momentum or his popularity, or a lack of it, with women.

Let's debate all of that. Joining me now is Neera Tanden. She's president of the Center for American Progress and policy director Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign. And, Scottie Nell Hughes, political editor for RightsAlert.com and a Trump surrogate. Good morning to both of you ladies.

NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Good morning.

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, POLITICAL EDITOR, RIGHTSALERT.COM: Great to be with you.

CAMEROTA: Neera, I want to start with you. Does the -- "The New York Times" article was basically a mixed bag. I mean, it showed Donald Trump treating women sort of superficially and fixated on their looks and their weight.

At the same time, it pointed out that Donald Trump was doing something unusual in the 80's and 90's. He was putting women in the top of his real estate empire. In fact, there was a woman that he installed as the head of construction for Trump Towers. So, how are voters supposed to interpret this article?

TANDEN: Yes, I think voters should read it for themselves. I mean, I think the reality of this article is that it shows a person who wants to be president of the United States treating women based on their looks, and people should really just read the article. It's absolutely the case that he did promote some women. I think that's to be commended.

But at the same time, you know, it's not just this article, but we have seen throughout this campaign his treatment, whether it's Megan Kelly or Carly Fiorina. He has decided that women's looks are what they should be judged by time after time.

CAMEROTA: OK. TANDEN: So, it's not just this "New York Times" article. I mean, we've seen this in real time and that's why he has the lowest approval ratings of any major candidate, ever, amongst women.

CAMEROTA: OK.

TANDEN: Sixty-four percent of women are disapproving of him and this is just going to feed that already existing position.

CAMEROTA: OK, so let me get Scottie in here. Scottie, do you think that it is a problem for female voters when they hear stories, time and again, of Donald Trump being fixated on women's looks and, in some ways, objectifying them?

HUGHES: Well, I think it is a problem because you have to wonder what is the motivation for these stories that are coming out, Alisyn. I mean, I don't think it's shocking to anybody to find out that Mr. Trump has, at times, been macho. He's been arrogant, he's been unabashed. He's been egotistical, and he's been a red-blooded heterosexual male who liked pretty women -- beautiful women.

[07:35:00] He owned a pageant organization. That's obvious. But, as we're finding out with this media bias, and it's obvious, is that "New York Times" article has already been debunked this morning with Rowanne Brewer Lane tweeting out all night that that was false. That they took her words -- that they spun her words to make Mr. Trump in a bad light --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

HUGHES: -- and that's exactly opposite what she meant.

CAMEROTA: OK.

HUGHES: Then you're also looking at Sue Carswell this weekend. She forgot to mention to Smerconish, as we played this over and over, that she lost her copy of the tape. And yet, she goes on to accuse Mr. Trump of leaking it.

CAMEROTA: I think she talks about that -- that's the "People" magazine editor --

HUGHES: She has denied her --

CAMEROTA: OK, that's the -- I'll tell the story. That's the "People" magazine editor who said that Donald Trump had actually apologized to her after calling in and masquerading as John Miller, his spokesman, and trying to plant stories about how women really dig him in the 90's. And then he admitted to her, she says, that it was, in fact, him and now he's claiming no knowledge of this.

But let's stay on "The New York Times" article for one minute because I do want to -- you're right. A woman has come forward this morning --

HUGHES: The main woman. CAMEROTA: One of the women. This is the woman who was involved romantically with Donald Trump. This isn't one of the women who he installed at the top of his company. But let me just read the disparity in reports and let people decide for themselves. Here's how "The New York Times" framed it, and then I'll say what she says.

"The New York Times" says that this woman, Rowanne Brewer Lane, explained when she first met Donald Trump. "He suddenly took me by the hand and he started to show me around the mansion. He asked me if I had a swimsuit with me. I said no. I hadn't intended to swim. He took me into a room and opened drawers and asked me to put on a swimsuit. I went into the bathroom and tried one on. I came out, and he said, wow. He brought me out to the pool and said, that is a stunning Trump girl, isn't it?"

So, that's not the most positive view of what happened. She says "The New York Times" spun her words. Here is what she told another morning show this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROWANNE BREWER LANE, FORMER TRUMP COMPANION: They did take quotes from what I said and they put a negative connotation on it. They spun it to where it appeared negative. I did not have a negative experience with Donald Trump and I don't appreciate them making it look like that I was saying that it was a negative experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK, so Neera, how to interpret that? That he says that this is a hit piece "The New York Times" did on him, and when you hear some of the women in the article saying they agree.

TANDEN: Yes. I mean, I think people should read the article. There's not just one story in this article. There are multiple stories and there are women who continue to work for Trump that said you know, I enjoyed working on these issues and working in construction.

But he, you know -- they say they don't -- it's not like they hate him but he did objectify them and talk their weight, judge them on their looks. And you know, it's not like we just have "The New York Times" story.

We have our own experiences in this campaign of the way he talks not about just Democrats on one side, but other Republicans. Republican women who he's running against, Republican women he's being interviewed by, conservatives.So, I think the article really just shows us -- confirms what people know.

CAMEROTA: OK.

TANDEN: But also, women who worked for him -- not just women he sees every day.

CAMEROTA: Yes, women who know him. TANDEN: Women who work him who's vulnerable to were treated this way.

CAMEROTA: OK, Scottie, last word?

HUGHES: Well, but he also does that with men. He's equal opportunity. He sits there and calls out fair. I think where the bias is coming in, Alisyn, is that we're failing to point out the Democrat side. We're failing to point out that Bernie Sanders, in 1972, said that women actually fantasized about being raped by several men.

CAMEROTA: But, that was -- look, we have talked about --

HUGHES: We're failing.

CAMEROTA: -- and that was even farther back in time, but we have talked about that.

HUGHES: He never apologized for those comments. We haven't pointed out that even Bill Clinton, despite the 17 (ph) women -- last week it came out that he actually had taken several trips with a known pedophile, sex trafficker, and dismissed his Secret Service crew. Those stories aren't getting near the attention that Mr. Trump has gotten.

TANDEN: That's exactly what the right does. You have criticism --

HUGHES: We never cover it.

TANDEN: You cannot rebut it and then you just call names.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: And sometimes it happens at the end of a segment, ladies. Sometimes it happens at the end of a segment when it's hard to then vet everything that people have said --

TANDEN: Absolutely.

CAMEROTA: -- because we're wrapping this segment now.

TANDEN: Absolutely, they've got the game down.

CAMEROTA: There are lots of angles, obviously, to continue for the next six months. Neera, Scottie, thank you.

HUGHES: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Let's get to Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Alrighty, then. Another big news item that needs discussion. George Zimmerman once again trying to auction off the gun that he used to kill Trayvon Martin. Will this controversial sale go through? Up next, we hear exclusively from the owner of the auction site the gun is on.

[07:39:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:43:00] CUOMO: Despite heavy criticism, the online auction for the gun used in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin is back on. George Zimmerman planning to sell the pistol on the United Gun Group website beginning tomorrow morning at 9:00 eastern.

The creator and owner of that website, Todd Underwood, and his attorney, Kevin Jamison, join us now. Gentlemen, thank you for being with us.

TODD UNDERWOOD, CREATOR/OWNER, UNITEDGUNGROUP.COM: Good morning. Thank you for having us on.

CUOMO: No need for an attorney for this conversation, I hope, but everyone is welcomed to join. Answer the obvious question. Why are you doing this, allowing George Zimmerman to sell his gun on your site?

UNDERWOOD: You know, that's a great question and I just want to let you know that this has absolutely nothing to with George Zimmerman. This decision was made months ago on how we would handle any situation like this. Social media, like Facebook, has decided to start dictating morality to its members, influencing what news sources they read, and dictating where their constitutional rights end.

Months ago we decided, as an organization, that we were going to allow individual liberty, the rule of law in the Constitution of the United States, to speak for itself. That's pretty much all we have to say on the issue. That's where we stand on this and any other issue. As long as it is legal, lawful, we're going to allow our members to dictate their own behavior.

CUOMO: "Our mission is to esteem the Second Amendment and to provide a safe and secure platform for firearms enthusiasts and law-abiding citizens. Our association with Mr. Zimmerman does not help us achieve that objective." That was from you, Thursday. What happened to that view on the situation?

UNDERWOOD: What happened to that view? That was a knee-jerk reaction due to public outcry. When we took a step back and analyzed the situation, compared it to our mission, our vision, and our values and where we stand with the constitution and individual liberty, and with the other people involved in the decision-making process, we agreed to go with our original stance and say if it's lawful legal activity we're going to allow individuals to make a choice on what they choose to do.

[07:45:00] That is as far as we're going to go. This is not about George Zimmerman for us. This is about the Second Amendment and standing firm for individual rights as adults to make their own decision.

CUOMO: I hear you about that.

KEVIN JAMISON, ATTORNEY FOR TODD UNDERWOOD: The threats didn't help, did it?

CUOMO: What'd you say, Kevin? I couldn't hear you.

JAMISON:The threats didn't help when he had that initial reaction.

CUOMO: All right, but I mean, look, you were being threatened. That's wrong, arguably unlawful. You don't need to be an attorney, like Kevin or me, to know that, but you're making a different point. You're saying this is about a morality judgment versus what's legal. You know it's legal for you to sell the gun on your site. Nobody's disputing that. It's about whether --

UNDERWOOD: Let me be clear, real quick.

CUOMO: Yes.

UNDERWOOD: Let me be clear. We are not selling the gun. We are allowing another individual --

CUOMO: Right.

UNDERWOOD: -- to make his own decision on what he wants to do. This has nothing to do with us making a decision. This is -- we have a platform. We allow people to use it and we're going to continue allowing people to use it for lawful, legal activity.

CUOMO: Understood.

UNDERWOOD: We are not going to dictate morality to our individuals.

CUOMO: OK, well then, that's the real issue. You're right, it's a fair distinction. You're not selling it, it's an online auction site. You're allowing it to sell a la an eBay, for a more discreet purpose. However, don't you make judgments about who's allowed to use the site and under what particular circumstances?

Are you saying anybody could come on and say I want to sell this cannon to point directly at this person and shoot them in the face? Would you allow that person on the site?

UNDERWOOD: You hit the nail on the head, Chris. I said, a minute ago, we allow legal, lawful behavior. What you just said is not legal and lawful --

CUOMO: Sure, it would be.

UNDERWOOD: -- so common sense -- no, it wouldn't. Not to sit there and threaten someone. You know that.

CUOMO: No, doing it, doing it would be illegal but people can say all kinds of things and have all kinds of ugliness surrounding their activities, and that's the point about George Zimmerman, is that the critics --

JAMISON: As long as it's not a threat.

CUOMO: Right.

JAMISON: What you described is a threat.

UNDERWOOD: Big distinction.

CUOMO: Well, that -- look, it's a big distinction if it's a legitimate threat. There's no question about that. What I'm saying is there's a huge room here for interpretation and being subjective about who you let on the site.

UNDERWOOD: Actually, there's not.

CUOMO: So you're saying that what George Zimmerman represents to a lot of people is irrelevant, even though initially it was relevant and that's why you put out this statement? Now are you saying it's irrelevant? Am I right?

UNDERWOOD: Well, what we're saying is we had a knee-jerk reaction to an initial onslaught of activity. And it's also important to notate that people are congratulating GunBroker for quote, unquote "doing the right thing and taking it down" and then GunBroker's trying to say they knew nothing about it. I have proof from Zimmerman that GunBroker knew about this auction for several weeks --

CUOMO: GunBroker is the other auction site that he was thinking about using.

UNDERWOOD: Yes.

CUOMO: Go ahead.

UNDERWOOD: GunBroker told them exactly how to list it. He originally had it listed as a collectible. GunBroker told him no, it's a current firearm. You need to relist it as a current firearm and an FFL is needed to complete this transaction. I have the audiotape from GunBroker stating this, and if you guys want a copy of it I'll ship it to you.

CUOMO: Last question -- last question and I'll let you go, and I appreciate you coming on to make this case here on NEW DAY, by the way -- you and Kevin. Kevin, thank you. Last thing, do you like what George Zimmerman is doing?

UNDERWOOD: What I like has nothing to do with this. I, personally, don't think I would do it this way. I, personally, wish this didn't make national headlines, but the media is turning this into a news story. And, hopefully, next week we would get back to doing business as usual and we can start talking about more important issues, like which bathroom men and women are supposed to use.

CUOMO: I appreciate you coming on NEW DAY. I know this hasn't been pleasant for you. I know that there's been threatening activity, as your attorney pointed out. Thank you for coming on to talk about it. It's certainly something that's got a lot of people thinking.

UNDERWOOD: My mom's a big fan. Thank you very much. CUOMO: She's a good woman for that, I'll tell you that right now. Thank you very much. Appreciate you being here.

UNDERWOOD: Have a good day, thank you.

CUOMO: All right, what's your take on this situation? There's a lot of emotion on both sides. Tweet us using the hashtag #NewDayCNN or post your comment on facebook.com/New Day -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. One year ago tomorrow, a deadly gun battle erupted at a biker bar in Texas. Our Ed Lavandera has covered the story extensively since then and, next, he gives us a look at his in- depth special on what led to that shootout and the fallout.

[07:49:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:53:45] CUOMO: Tomorrow, believe it or not, marks one year since this epic shootout between rival biker gangs in Waco, Texas. You remember, those nine bikers left dead, 18 others -- and all of these -- all of this talk about why did it happen? And the big deal was that so much of it was captured on surveillance video, right?

The fallout just keeps expanding far beyond these two gangs, so we wanted to get to the bottom of it. So, we put the man on the case. CNN's Ed Lavandera -- he covered the story then and he's doing a story special report airing tonight. Finally, we'll get some depth into this. Tell us what you see.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is fascinating because when we first broke this story back in October we had the first video glimpses of what happened. They didn't actually show the beginning of the fight, but --

CAMEROTA: That was the problem. Nobody knew what started it.

LAVANDERA: Right. Well, now we have that and we have interviews with people who were in the heart of it when it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE POLICE OFFICER: Keep your hands up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounded a gunfight at OK Corral. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, one right after another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not here to drink beer and eat barbecue.

LAVANDERA: This is the site now, a year after one of the most notorious chapters in outlaw biker history. On a quiet Sunday last May, the thundering rumble of Harley motorcycles descended on the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas.

[07:55:00] An all-out brawl turned into a gunfight. The violent melee between the Bandidos and Cossacks motorcycle clubs ended with nine bikers dead and at least 18 wounded. One-hundred seventy-seven bikers accused of engaging in organized criminal activity. Investigator recovered a staggering number of weapons but that was just the beginning of what is turning into an epic saga.

Since the deadly brawl, federal investigators arrested the top three leaders of the Bandidos, including president Jeff Pike, who wasn't in Waco that day. Pike was arrested in an early morning raid at his home in January.

So, as we're talking to you now, here, you're out on bond?

JEFF PIKE, PRESIDENT, BANDIDOS MOTORCYCLE CLUB: Right.

PIKE: You got a 409 in it.

LAVANDERA: And speaking exclusively with CNN from his home where he says refurbishing classic cars and motorcycles are his favorite hobbies.

PIKE: You don't have to worry about pulling up next to somebody who's got one just like it.

LAVANDERA: The investigation has shifted beyond Waco to what the Department of Justice and the FBI are doing in San Antonio, Texas. Federal investigators believe that Pike and the other Bandidos leaders masterminded a series of vicious attacks on the Cossacks. The Feds indictment includes a wide range of charges, including assault, extortion, and murder.

Did the Bandidos declare war on the Cossacks?

PIKE: They asked me that in my interview when they arrested me and I laughed. I said, well, how do you do that? It's an act of Congress. What do we do, write them a letter or what?

LAVANDERA: Do you think of yourself as an outlaw?

PIKE: (LAUGHING) Uh, I haven't broken a law in decades. I don't know what you're talking about.

LAVANDERA: Video of the Waco shooting captured the moment the fists started flying and gunfire erupted. Bandidos biker Jake Carrizal was in the middle of the fight.

JAKE CARRIZAL: I had guys all over me. I had Cossacks all over me.

LAVANDERA: You hear the shots?

CARRIZAL: I hear the shots going off, whizzing by me. I've never been that scared in my life.

LAVANDERA: This Cossacks biker, who asked us to hide his identity, was wounded in the chaos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE COSSACKS BIKER: It was a lot of carnage. It was a lot of carnage. I still remember the blood coming out of me, the pain, the people around me being shot. So it's just not good.

LAVANDERA: A year after the massacre, 154 of the 177 arrested bikers have been indicted by a Waco grand jury and are out of jail on bond awaiting trial. But it's not clear when any of the biker brawl cases will see the inside of a courtroom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Wow, Ed, interesting stuff. So you caught on tape, there, the moment that the punches started flying. Do we know why the punches started flying?

LAVANDERA: Well, this is -- we get into a lot of this but it kind of depends on who you believe, right? So, you've got Bandidos who say that they were ambushed that day. That the Cossacks were sitting there waiting -- just waiting to pick a fight.

The Cossacks say that's not the case. That the Bandidos had been flexing their muscle. They're the big dogs in the state as far as motorcycle clubs are concerned. So, we get into a lot of that and you know, it's kind of fascinating.

CUOMO: Are you able to get a read, at all, on some of the intrigue that expanded beyond them? That this was about the cops setting up these two gangs. Remember, there was some speculation early on the cops had set this up to kind of have like a big bloodletting of all these criminals at one time. Is there any substance to that?

LAVANDERA: Well, the prosecutors, cops, everyone has been tight- lipped for the last year. They say there's a gag order. They're not talking so that's kind of led to all of these conspiracy theories that are out there about what exactly happened. But it's clear, the 177 bikers there in that restaurant, if not more, and they had about 20 cops on the perimeter.

We know that they had gone to some of the bikers and been kind of warning people that there might be some trouble here. So the law enforcement role in a lot of this has been highly criticized and under much -- being analyzed quite a bit as to what exactly they were doing there.

CAMEROTA: Ed Lavandera, we can't wait to watch it.

LAVANDERA: Yes, it's great, thanks.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much for previewing it for us. Be sure to watch "BIKER BRAWL: INSIDE THE TEXAS SHOOTOUT" tonight at 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

CUOMO: This is one story. There is a lot of news being made. We have an exclusive interview with Dr. Ben Carson, who's in the middle of some it, so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump on the defensive. His conduct towards women over the last four decades under more scrutiny.

REINCE PRIEBUS, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: These are things that he is going to have to answer for.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: People have not expected purity on his part.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That was not me on the phone.

JOHN MILLER: I can tell you this.

TRUMP: I can tell you this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His campaign is seriously claiming that that isn't Mr. Trump?