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Donald Trump Replaces Campaign Manager; Flooding Continues in Parts of Louisiana; Interview with Congressman Adam Schiff. Aired 8- 8:30a ET

Aired August 17, 2016 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:05:00] JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the second major shake-up for Trump's team. Back in June, he fired Corey Lewandowski weeks before the Republican convention.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is a good man. We've had great success. He is a friend of mine. But I think it is time now for a different kind of a campaign.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I had a nice conversation with Mr. Trump, and I said to him it has been an honor and privilege to be part of this.

SCHNEIDER: The news comes as Trump tries to appeal to a black audience, but the audience was mostly white.

TRUMP: I'm asking for the vote of every African-American citizen struggling in our city today who wants a different and much better future.

SCHNEIDER: Trump addressing the violent protests Milwaukee after police shot and killed a black man Saturday.

TRUMP: Those peddling the narrative of as a racist force in our society, a narrative supported with a nod by my opponent, shared directly in the responsibility for the unrest in Milwaukee and many other places within our country.

SCHNEIDER: He is placing the blame for inner city unrest squarely on what he calls failed Democratic policies.

TRUMP: The African-American community has been taken for granted for decades by the Democratic Party. It is time for rule by the people, not rule for the special interests.

Hillary Clinton backed policies are responsible for the problems in the inner cities today, and a vote for her is a vote for another generation of poverty, high crime, and lost opportunities.

SCHNEIDER: With only 83 days until the election, Trump is digging in on his combative style in hopes of turning around his slide in the polls.

TRUMP: I am who I am. It's me. You have to be you. If you start pivoting, you're not being honest with people. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: And Donald Trump releasing a statement this morning, talking about how he views this shake-up, saying "I believe we're adding some of the best talents in politics with the experience and expertise need to defeat Hillary Clinton in November and continue to share my message and vision to make America great again."

Donald Trump also talked about the addition of Steve Bannon as CEO, saying this will bolster approach that Donald Trump has taken to his campaign. Also, happening today, Donald Trump will receive his first national security briefing. It is the first time he'll be getting classified information. Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Jessica, thank you very much. You've given us a lot to talk about, so let's get right to it.

We want to bring in Corey Lewandowski, CNN political commentator and former Donald Trump campaign manager. He is still receiving severance payments from the Trump campaign. How long are those going to last? And Paul Begala, CNN political commentator and senior advisor for a pro Hillary Clinton super PAC. Gentlemen, you are the two best people to talk to this morning. Corey, what do you think of this change? Paul Manafort basically sidelined, Steve Bannon now coming in as CEO.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's exciting for t Trump campaign by bringing in Kellyanne Conway, who has been part of the campaign, and now naming her the campaign manager. She is someone who has been part of the Trump world and Trump orbit for a long time. She's a trusted adviser. She is someone who has been very loyal to Trump. Even back when he looked at potentially running for governor of New York, she was part of the original conversations. I think she does a really good job of understanding messaging, repositioning messaging as it relates to specific audiences. I think she will help with any gender gap problems he may have. So I think it is a good step. Growing that team is important.

CAMEROTA: Interesting. We're aren't you talking about Steve Bannon.

LEWANDOWSKI: I know Steve very well. And Steve is a person who has had unparalleled success in the private sector. He is a person who I think like myself is a bit of a street fighter, a person who is will to go right at his opponents and make sure that they know that in politics, all is fair in love and war.

CAMEROTA: And there it is. That's exactly what people say the parallel is, that this a return to the Corey Lewandowski style.

LEWANDOWSKI: I'm here.

CAMEROTA: But Corey, don't you feel vindicated this morning?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't. You know why, because at the end of the day, and I know that you know this because you've demonstrated, I'm still being paid severance from the Trump campaign, I want to see Donald Trump win. And I want to see him win because it is the right thing for the country, because Washington is fundamentally broken. For my children, they need a different future. They need someone --

CAMEROTA: But now that it has returned to the Corey Lewandowski bare- knuckled style of let Trump be Trump, that was your motto, might you return to the campaign?

LEWANDOWSKI: No. Look. They have a great team of professionals. I have a lot of friends over at that campaign. They know what to do. And I think the strategy that you'll see from Donald Trump is similar to what you saw last night. He laid out a very specific policy for the last two days, Monday and Tuesday.

CAMEROTA: And then eclipsed it with his own breaking news of a campaign change.

LEWANDOWSKI: But what he did last night is he reached out to the African-American community and said the Democratic Party has taken advantage of you for 30 years. There is an alternative, and I can be that change.

CAMEROTA: Paul --

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't even need to be the story, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for being patient. What people say this means for your side is it is going to get nastier and it is going to get more bare-knuckled.

BEGALA: Right. Donald Trump started in the gutter and he's going to go down into the sewer. This is what he does. The problem was never Corey. The problem is not Paul Manafort. And the solutions, I know Kellyanne, she is a terrific pro. But she is not the solution. And the guy from Breitbart who I don't know, he is not the solution. The problem is right there. The image, the guy with the orange here, he is the problem. He is why Donald Trump is losing. You can't fix Trump. They have tried. They have tried -- it is like you have dog that keeps running off. They get the electric fence, it is not working. He plows right through that fence and goes and bites the neighbor's kid, or the neighbor is a POW, or disabled folks, or people from Mexico, or people who are Muslims.

This is all about Trump. And what is astonishing about this, and it is unlovely, but it is going to fail, so maybe as a Democratic I should be happy, is that he is doubling down on what has made him the worst Republican nominee in history.

CAMEROTA: The winner. The most winningest Republican nominee in history.

BEGALA: In the primaries, yes. But it is like the Olympics. The decathlon, the first event is a javelin thrown. Donald Trump gets up there and he throws the javelin farther than we've ever seen. He sets a world record. He beats 16 guys, with Corey's help, who had 240 years of experience. We go, whoa, this is the greatest decathlete we've ever seen. The second is a pole vault. He takes the poll, and he throws it across the stadium the same way. You're like, no, no, you have to lift, and loft. You have to soar. He goes against the pole and he chases the Mexican judge and stabs him with it. No, it is disaster.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Paul is running with the metaphor.

LEWANDOWSKI: He's too Olympic hyped up, I think.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Corey, well, hold on. To Paul's point, was Donald Trump feeling too tethered, too hemmed in?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think Donald Trump is going to be participating in the decathlon like John Kerry did the bike race and fell off and broke his leg. We're not going to talk about that. But what we are going to talk about is Donald Trump's message, which has not changed this entire campaign, which is I'm the outsider. Washington is broken, and I want to bring back the message that if you elect me as president of the United States, Donald Trump, I'm going to bring a fundamental and wholesale change to Washington.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but wasn't Paul Manafort trying to make him more establishment, trying to tone down his message as the outsider?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I think you could argue that that was part of the strategy, but the strategy in that regard doesn't work, because people have an 11 percent approval rating of congress, 11 percent, which means it is not working.

CAMEROTA: So the Paul Manafort strategy did not work in your estimation?

LEWANDOWSKI: I think if you look at the last two weeks, the poll numbers have indicated in the swing states that the message was not working properly, and I think what propelled Donald Trump to success in the primaries was, we don't want a typical politician. We don't want a person who is going to give the same speech everywhere. We want someone who is going to bring change to Washington. That message permeates long outside of the Republican primary process and goes to the general public that says Washington takes care of Washington. There are two separate sets of rules. Donald Trump cannot be bought by lobbyists. He is funding his own campaign. He will go and fundamentally change Washington for the better of the country.

CAMEROTA: Are you worried, Paul, that if Trump gets back to what made him win the primary, that it will get harder for Hillary Clinton?

BEGALA: It will get harder. You know what I'm worried about, they're putting up a major ad buy, which is late but smart. That's going to have an effect. This big league that Hillary right now is not going to last. It is not. It is going to be a dead heat race. Every Democratic needs to know that.

CAMEROTA: Why does she have such a big lead now if you think it's not going to last?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, because Trump has just limited himself. This is his challenge. I hate to give him free advice, but I don't think this move cures his problem. He got 13 million plus votes in the primary, the most any Republican ever got. But to be president he needs 65 or 70 million. And the path from 13 to 70 is littered with women, college educated folks, people of color, younger people, all the folks he is busy alienating. You can't get from 13 million to 70 million without reaching out to those folks. I know, like last night, well, I'm reaching out to the African-Americans. He went to an all-white suburb --

CAMEROTA: Why did he go to an all-white suburb, Corey?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't think it matters the audience that was in that room.

CAMEROTA: It was all white.

LEWANDOWSKI: I know, but it was a broadcast to a national audience. Look, it is like saying if you're going talk about the problems in Washington, D.C., you have to do it from inside the beltway. It's preposterous.

BEGALA: Hillary went to Scranton. I love Scranton, Pennsylvania, I've spent a lot of time there. That's where working class white folks live in Pennsylvania, a whole love of them. That's not her base, she is reaching out to Trump's base. He should be going to the NAACP which he cancelled, or refused to attend. He should have been going to the National Association of Black Journalist, which he did not. He needs to reach out to voters he does not already have, and those are not the voters who are reading the Breitbart website or watching FOX News. He needs to grow behind that. I'm glad he's not doing it. I hope he's not watching.

[08:10:00] LEWANDOWSKI: You know what voters are concerned about, making sure you're safe at home, making that your children are safe, making sure you get health care. We saw two major companies are now pulling out of the Obamacare system because it has been a complete, disaster, millions of dollars in losses. We know people want security and want jobs. Those are the things that Donald Trump is going to bring. He is going to keep the home front safe. He is going to keep the domestic front safe. He's going to create jobs. You do that, the economy works, you're elected president of the United States.

CAMEROTA: What is Roger Ailes' role in the campaign?

LEWANDOWSKI: Roger had -- the campaign was very clear about this yesterday. Roger has no role, whether formal or informal in the campaign whatsoever.

CAMEROTA: Isn't he talking to Donald Trump? They just were at a golf course on Sunday together? Aren't they having meetings?

LEWANDOWSKI: I don't know who was at the golf course. I wasn't there. A lot of people play golf. A lot of people are members of Mr. Trump's golf course. It doesn't mean they're helping the campaign. Maybe it was a relationship. Look, I think Donald Trump has had business relationships with, you know, executives in the media industry for 30 years.

CAMEROTA: Sure, but if Roger Ailes gives him advice on how to debate, he'll take it.

LEWANDOWSKI: But that's not what he said. And the campaign was very clear on this. Mr. Ailes has no formal or informal role in the campaign whatsoever. They put out that statement yesterday, I believe it to the letter.

CAMEROTA: Corel, Paul, always a spirited conversation. Thank you, gentlemen, very much for being here. Let's get to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, on the other side of the ball, the Clinton campaign, Congress now has the FBI's report to the Justice Department explaining why it recommended no charges in Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state. That has the Clinton campaign blasting Republicans, arguing that this classified report should be released to you, the public.

CNN investigative correspondent Chris Frates live in Washington with more. An interesting turnabout in play here. The Clinton campaign had wanted this information to come out, said it was a bad precedent, and says now, if it's going to come out, everyone should have it.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Chris. And the other thing that we're learning today is these email problems are continuing to dog her campaign. So yesterday the FBI sent Congress a classified report on why it recommended against charging Clinton in connection with her use of a private e-mail server as secretary of state.

Now, the report contains notes from interviews with Clinton and other material related to the investigation. The decision to release information in a case where charges are not brought is extremely rare. And in the statement, the FBI said it provided the report to Congress with the expectation that it would not be made public.

Now, the news drew a sharp response from the Clinton campaign who said Republicans were only looking to second-guess the FBI. And in a statement, the campaign said "We believe that if these materials are going to be shared outside the Justice Department, they should be released widely so that the public can see for themselves rather than allow Republicans to mischaracterize them through selective partisan leaks."

Now, top Republican Senator Chuck Grassley seemed to agree with Clinton, saying that much of the material in the report is unclassified and should be made public. And in a letter to lawmakers, the FBI reiterated Director James Comey's assertion that Clinton's handling of certain highly classified information was indeed extremely careless but did not warrant prosecution. But judging by the fireworks this report generated on Capitol Hill yesterday, Alisyn, the political battle over Clinton's e-mails, that's far from over. CAMEROTA: It sure sounds like it, Chris. Thanks so much for that

update.

Now to another top story, the death toll from historic flooding in southern Louisiana rising to 11. The magnitude and scope of the devastation is only beginning to come to light. There are also tens of thousands of people outside of their homes today. CNN's Boris Sanchez is live in Gonzalez, Louisiana with more. What does it look like today, Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Alisyn. The good news is the floodwater is receding in some areas. The bad news is that in other areas like here in Ascension Parish, it is not going anywhere. In this neighborhood, you can see it looks like a huge lake, the water essentially cutting off these neighborhoods.

On the way over here, our satellite truck actually started smoking so we had to move very quickly to get it out of there. That's why there are still dozens of roads closed across the state. As you mentioned, there are tens of thousands of people out of their homes right now. More than 60,000 people have requested aid from FEMA. There is a tremendous amount of need.

There's also a curfew here in Ascension Parish not just to prevent people from being on the street and finding themselves in dangerous situations, but also to prevent crime. Yesterday, about 10 people were arrested for looting, Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Boris, thank you very much. We have to stay on this story. It didn't have the spectacular beginning of a hurricane, but the problem is real, and it is going to be there a long time.

Another weather story disaster to tell you about, wildfires in southern California, they are burning out of control. More than 80,000 people are out of their homes. This is happening in rural San Bernardino County east of Los Angeles. An entire ski resort had to be evacuated. Part of Interstate 15 was shut down because the fire was spreading in different directions.

[08:15:01] Firefighters are afraid it could get worse today.

CAMEROTA: There is an all-out manhunt to find the son of El Chapo. He, of course, is the jailed Mexican drug lord. Jesus Alfredo Guzman is one of six people who is kidnapped by a group of armed men who stormed a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta early morning. The kidnapping is, of course, a blow to El Chapo, who is suspected of still trying to maintain the Sinaloa drug cartel's dominance in the region from jail.

CUOMO: All right. The El Chapo thing is going to be interesting, because the question becomes, they did know they were taking him when they took their group of people at that restaurant. If they did, it could have deadly consequences, and quickly, not just for his son.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

CUOMO: So this big intrigue on the Clinton side of the ball this morning. This FBI report is coming out. This is the report that shows the notes and thinking that went into their conclusion, not to bring a case.

The Clinton campaign didn't want this to come out. They said that it is a bad precedent. But now they want all of you to see it. Why? We have one of her supporters, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. So, big headlines. Donald Trump shaking up his campaign, kind of making a pledge to go more full-throated in his attacks of Hillary Clinton. He's got this new chef executive and campaign manager overnight, changes.

But it is not going to be about the personnel. It's going t o be how this impacts what Trump does and says.

Let's discuss this, the FBI report coming out about why they didn't bring charges against Hillary Clinton and the state of play in the election with Congressman Adam Schiff, a ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

[08:20:08] He is a Democrat from California who has endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Good to see you, Congressman.

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: How concerned are you that bringing in that Breitbart element, that fringe element into Trump and his acknowledgment, it seems, with these moves, that he's going to come at you guys as much and more than ever?

SCHIFF: Well, I'm not that concerned about it frankly, because there is no changing Donald Trump. He has made that abundantly clear. I'm not sure this new team is either going to be able to control him or steer him in the right direction, any more than the old team.

I think he's continue to be inflammatory and reckless in his comments, and that concerns me a great deal in terms of our national security interests, because a lot of what he said now being repeated by the likes of the leader of Hezbollah, it does damage to our national security. It feeds into the narrative that ISIS and others have maintained against the United States, or al Qaeda or Hezbollah or Russia, and I think that's deeply damaging to the country. But politically, I don't see much change in the campaign.

CUOMO: He is also making argument, though in his law and order speech. I want to get your take on it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The Democratic Party has failed and betrayed the African-American community. The Democratic Party is taking the votes of African-Americans for granted. They've just assumed they'll get your support, and done nothing in return for it. They've taken advantage of the African-American citizen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Now, right now, the polls have Clinton at 91 percent support in African communities, and they have Donald Trump at 1 percent. I don't think we've ever seen a number like that. It's almost hard to believe it's real.

He's got nowhere to go but up, and this is a saleable argument to many voters out there in those communities, Congressman. You guys have been in control in a lot of big cities, life is not better there for people, why should they stick with the Democrats?

SCHIFF: Well, because they see the Democrats fighting to improve the quality of life in these communities, and they see Republicans often standing in the way. That's been a big challenge during the Obama administration. It is not that the president hasn't tried, and in many ways succeeded, but often where he has run into difficulty, it is because of the obstructionism of the Republican majority in Congress.

And I think it's going to take a lot more than a few statements like that by Donald Trump to pursued people that he has now suddenly a champion of the African-American community. I don't think he is going to be able to make that case any more than he is the champion of Latino community or the champion of working poor families, or the champion really of anyone, except for a few billionaire elites, like himself. That's all really Donald Trump has stood for.

CUOMO: But one more beat on that. Yes, policies are top-down on the federal level, certainly. But we're talking about local governments here. I know that this isn't what Donald Trump's exact impact is, he wants to impact his own election, but down ballot -- Baltimore, Ferguson, a small place, but Flint is a big place, Philadelphia is a big place. These are all Democratically-controlled places, in some cases for decades. And life there is not what it needs to be.

Why reward the Democrats with more tenure?

SCHIFF: Well, I think you have to determine what are the Democrats offering? What is Secretary Clinton proposing to improve the quality of life in these communities, and I think if you look at her policies in terms of trying to raise people up, breaking down barriers, increasing wages, dealing with criminal justice reform, all these policies are in line with what these communities want to see take place.

And then you look at someone on the other side of the aisle, Donald Trump, who is divisive in his rhetoric, often hateful in his rhetoric, often bigoted in his rhetoric, and I don't think that's really an option for any of these communities.

CUOMO: Another big development here, the FBI report justifying no charges against Hillary now in the hands of Congress. Initially, the campaign, her supporters, did not want it to come out. Said it was bad precedent. Now they're saying they want everybody to see it.

What's the play?

SCHIFF: Well, listen, I'm still frankly coming grips with the fact that the FBI has sent us the materials. I said before they did so that I thought this would be a serious mistake and I'm concerned it will have a chilling impact on people's willingness to cooperate if they know their private interviews or private statements are going to become political fodder for Congress.

Where does it stop, Chris? Why doesn't the Financial Services Committee now demand the closed investigative files on any high ranking banking officials who are not indicted after the financial meltdown? Why don't we look at any political sensitive investigation, where charges were ultimately not brought, and demand those closed investigative files.

And what will the bureau say? Well, we're not going to do it this time, because we don't want to.

[08:25:00] That's the problem with establishing this kind of --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Although I've got to tell you, though, Congressman, that sounds pretty good what you're saying, though. I mean, especially when you talk about the banks, nobody going to jail for what happened in 2008, and beyond.

Why not? I mean, a lot of these things are politically motivated. A lot of people do get out of situations that maybe they shouldn't. Why not have it more of a public and open review?

SCHIFF: Well, it does sound good until you contract fact does this mean that Congress is going to get into the decision-making on who to prosecute? And that people that are willing to give and cooperate and be interviewed because they think what will be said will be maintained its privacy, the grand jury secrecy of that can no longer count on that because Congress will get its hands on everything. Congress will leak everything, as indeed is our history, at least in the last five or ten years, so, it will have a real chilling impact on the investigations.

It also, I think, will have an impact on the deliberations in the departments if they know Congress is going to be digging through their files in a way that they have never had access before.

So, while it is attractive on the surface, I think it's a real mistake and won't ultimately serve the interests of justice.

CUOMO: Well, in this case, it has happened. So, the question now becomes what is in there and what impact it has on the election and, obviously, we'll know that when it comes out.

Congressman, thank you very much for joining us. Appreciate it.

SCHIFF: Thank you, Chris. CUOMO: All right, so you can talk about the politics, but what you

ant is more discussion about the policy. Ideas for you, not just why one candidate hates the other.

So, programming note: join us tonight for a CNN town hall with the Green Party candidates. You have Dr. Jill Stein, her running mate, Ajamu Baraka. It's going to be hosted by me, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

But it is all about you, real people asking real questions. What does the Green Party have to offer? You'll know tonight.

Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Looking forward to that, Chris. Thanks so much.

So, what do Republicans in Congress think about Trump's campaign shake-up? That conversation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)