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Trump Expresses 'Regret' for Past Comments; Reuters: U.S. Swimmers Paying $11,000 to Settle Dispute. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Sometimes you say the wrong thing. Believe it or not, I regret it.

[05:59:18] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There is no new Donald Trump. This is it.

TRUMP: I can be too honest. Hillary Clinton is the exact opposite.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Let him be him. That's how he got here.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a policy that we don't pay ransom.

TRUMP: President Obama lied. He said we don't pay ransom. But we did.

JOHN KIRBY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It's not ransom. We had to take advantage of the timing here.

RYAN LOCHTE, U.S. OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brazilian authorities say Ryan Lochte's stunning story about being robbed at gunpoint all a lie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They made a mistake. It's part of life. Life goes on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police accusing the Americans of vandalizing a gas station.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Friday, August 19, 6 a.m. in the east. Don't adjust your set. You're not seeing double. Chris is off this morning, and Poppy Harlow joins me.

Great to be with you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be with you. We were joking earlier, you had the haircut first, my friend.

CAMEROTA: I'm glad that's on the record.

We have a lot to talk about this morning. Up first, Donald Trump doing something rarely seen in this election cycle. He's expressing regret. Trump conceding that sometimes he says the wrong thing.

HARLOW: But the Republican nominee did not say anything specific about what he regrets. Trump's out-of-character remorse coming just days after a major campaign shake-up.

We have every angle covered for you this morning. Let's begin with our George Howell.

Good morning, George.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, good morning.

Donald Trump at a rally in North Carolina for the very first time surprising the audience there, saying something that people did not expect him to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I've never been politically correct.

HOWELL (voice-over): Donald Trump doing what he refused to do throughout his campaign: expressing remorse for his controversial statements.

TRUMP: Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it.

HOWELL: A complete 180 from the unapologetic tone his supporters have come to expect.

TRUMP: And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain. Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with these issues. But one thing, I can promise you this: I will always tell you the truth.

HOWELL: Trump delivering prepared remarks, speaking for the first time since his campaign reboot and veering away from the brash persona that could doom him in the general election.

CONWAY: I think we're going to sharpen the message, and we're going to make sure Donald Trump is comfortable about being in his own skin, that he doesn't lose that authenticity that you simply can't buy and a pollster can't give you.

HOWELL: The Republican nominee not saying exactly what he regrets, but his remarks come after a firestorm of criticism for attacking the family of a slain Muslim-American soldier.

TRUMP: I don't regret anything. I said nice things about the son. HOWELL: And he has yet to apologize for attacking Republican Senator

John McCain, who spent five years as a POW in Vietnam.

TRUMP: He's not a war hero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a war hero.

TRUMP: He's a war hero -- he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured, OK? I hate to tell you.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: There's a body of American heroes that I'd like to see him retract that statement.

HOWELL: Trump did express mild regret after retweeting an unflattering photo of Ted Cruz's wife Heidi next to his wife, Melania, later telling "The New York Times," quote, "It was a mistake."

Trump also using the opportunity to show support for flood victims in Louisiana.

TRUMP: When one state hurts, we all hurt. And we must all work together to lift each other up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: There may be a long line of people waiting to see what Trump regrets. Though, Trump and Mike Pence arrive in Baton Rouge later today to tour the flood damage there.

This trip comes on the heels of "The Baton Rouge Advocate" calling President Obama to cut his vacation short, telling him, quote, "a hurting Louisiana needs you now" -- Alisyn, Poppy.

CAMEROTA: OK, George, thank you. You've given us a lot to talk about.

POPPY: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So let's bring in our panel. We have CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston; CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich; and senior editor of "The Atlantic" and former speech writer for George W. Bush, David Frum. Great to have all of you here.

Mark, because it is so noteworthy, let's play again what Donald Trump said last night about expressing regret for some things he's said on the campaign trail. So let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sometimes in the heat of debate and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that. And believe it or not, I regret it. And I do regret it, particularly where it may have caused personal pain.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CAMEROTA: Now, the crowd at first thought that he was setting them up for a punchline.

HARLOW: Right.

CAMEROTA: At first. But then they got it. Is this, what we're seeing, the Kellyanne Conway effect already on the campaign?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: I believe it is. And I also think it's something that, if Donald Trump is able to continue to pursue, then he will be a much more formidable candidate heading into November.

However, that speech was 12 hours ago, and we'll see 12 hours from now, will Donald Trump pivot back to the way he was before? But I can tell you, last night was one of his better moments, if not his best moment in the campaign. He was very serious. He was very solemn. He was very focused.

[06:05:17] HARLOW: But I think the interesting -- Jackie Kucinich, I mean, you make the point that this is not some stunning act of contrition. That was not a Steve Bannon moment, right? So how does he toe the line? How does he walk the line between the best of Kellyanne Conway and the best of Bannon and being Trump?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Balance hasn't really been his strong suit. And if you actually listen to what he said, he didn't apologize for anything. He said he regrets some things, the things that he said, but again, there were no specifics there at all.

So we'll have to see in the coming days. I mean, one speech does not a pattern make. So I think Mark is right. We're going to have to keep watching to see if he can actually -- because I guess it's like Kellyanne is the good angel on his shoulder, and Steve Bannon is the bad angel on his shoulder. And we'll have to see if he's pinging back and forth throughout this election. Then he's just going to look inconsistent. So it's going to be fascinating to watch. That's for sure.

CAMEROTA: David, here's some of the things that Trump has said recently that could be considered regrettable and maybe he was referring to. Here's our list.

He called President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. He, as you know, called for some sort of Second Amendment action against Hillary Clinton that many people thought was a threat or a call to arms somehow.

He suggested that sexual harassment victims -- if Ivanka, for instance, his daughter, were sexually harassed, that she should find another career. He claimed that he saw the video of Iran payment. He suggested that that Muslim Gold-Star mom wasn't allowed to speak by her husband because of their culture. He suggested the election could be rigged if he loses.

What do you think he was referring to, David? DAVID FRUM, FORMER SPEECH WRITER, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, he

reminded me of Jesse Jackson's memorable apology at the Democratic 1984 convention. Jackson had gotten himself into a lot of trouble during the campaign with a flurry of anti-Semitic remarks and revelations of anti-Semitic associations. And at that convention, he delivered a very memorable apology. It's on video on YouTube. You can watch it. It obviously didn't turn things around for Jesse Jackson. He never did become the Democratic presidential nominee, but it rehabilitated him as a force in American life. He was -- Jackson was heading in 1984 into the territory where

you can't be a regular on American television, and he was pulled back into the territory where you can.

What Donald Trump is doing now, turning around a campaign is hard, but elevating a debacle into a respectable defeat, that's not hard. You just have to refrain from making terrible mistakes.

HARLOW: You know, it's interesting, Mark Preston. He also said last night that he wants to make leaders in his party somewhat uncomfortable.

PRESTON: Right.

HARLOW: And that stood out to me a lot. What did you make of that?

PRESTON: Well, it was interesting that he actually included that in the speech last night. He has been saying that over and over again, but I think for him, it was a way -- it was -- for lack of a better term, a dog whistle to his supporters to say, "Listen, I might be becoming more of a -- more of a traditional candidate, but I'm still going to say what I believe, just not with as much bravado."

I was with Donald Trump in Iowa last year when he was unable to tell a group of social conservatives, about a thousand of them, that he would ever express forgiveness from God...

CAMEROTA: Ask for forgiveness.

PRESTON: Yes, ask forgiveness. Appalling that he would -- politically appalling, because you wouldn't say that in that type of room. Here we are now 13 months later, and he is at least trying to turn the campaign around. He's got about 80 days left. The question is, can he do it? To David's point, who knows?

CAMEROTA: Jackie, I want to play a portion of that speech that Poppy is talking about, because the tone and the substance were different than what we've heard in recent weeks. So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Has Hillary ever apologized for lying about her illegal e-mail server and deleting 33,000 e-mails? Has Hillary Clinton apologized for turning the State Department into a pay-for-play operation, where favors are sold to the highest bidder, which is exactly what's happening? Has she apologized for lying to the families who lost loved ones at Benghazi? Has she apologized for putting Iran on a path to nuclear weapons? Has she apologized for Iraq, for Libya, for Syria?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, Jackie. That's not the one that I was hoping for. I was hoping for the one where he said, "I want to be the voice for every forgotten part of this country that's been waiting for a better future." Because that was the one where he expresses sort of more of a vision, an optimistic vision for the future.

[06:10:04] The one that we played was more, I think, quintessential Trump, but a little bit different. What did you hear?

KUCINICH: You know, in the clip -- in the clip you just played, I heard a politician. I heard someone who can actually stay on message and someone who had something to say about his opponent that had a focus. It had -- he had a message there. He had the call response that wouldn't get him in trouble.

He's on a teleprompter, you know? He's never gotten in trouble when he's on a teleprompter. He's getting better at it; that's for sure. That was far and beyond better than what we've heard in the past with him on a teleprompter.

However, when he gets off message, when he gets kind of wild is when he doesn't have that sort of structure. So if they're able to keep him in that sort of space, that's good news for the Trump campaign.

HARLOW: And David Frum, to you, what Trump also said last night is that he and his running mate, Mike Pence, will go to Baton Rouge. They're going to go there today. And clearly, he's making a play here to improve his numbers also with African-Americans. I mean, he's polling at 1 percent among African-Americans. He said last night, "I will be," quote, "amazing for African-Americans."

And then you've got this "Washington Post" headline out this morning that says there may not be enough blue-collar white men in America to elect Trump, literally.

So what do you make of the strategy going to Baton Rouge and then also not just making it a photo op? Right? The governor of Louisiana said, "All right, you're welcome, but make a big donation. Help us. Don't just come for photos."

FRUM: Look, I don't know that there's a lot of room for Donald Trump among African-Americans, but there are many other Americans who aren't African-Americans who prefer not to see African-Americans insulted, suggesting they're rioting in cities all over the place. And so that would be a step forward.

To Jackie's point, you know, one of the things that I, as a past speech writer, hope will come out of this campaign is the rehabilitation of the teleprompter. God invented them for a reason. Read what's on them. The people -- the -- a proper campaign, the candidate chooses the people who do the writing for him. And the people who do the writing, they spitball. They try things out. They cull the stupid ideas. They avoid the things that might be unintentionally offensive in ways that you wouldn't think of in the very first heat of the moment.

And they then compile words that are your words, because they're working for you, and they reflect your thinking. They put them on a teleprompter. Read the teleprompter.

CAMEROTA: As someone who's a fan of the teleprompter...

FRUM: It doesn't mean you're -- it doesn't mean you're dumb. It just means you're being prepared and careful.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you very much for all this. We'll talk to you later in the program.

HARLOW: All right. Turning now to the Olympic controversy. Reuters this morning reporting that U.S. swimmer Jimmy Feigen will pay $11,000 to a Brazilian charity. This payment connected to the story of a gunpoint robbery that police there in Brazil say was a lie, made up by Ryan Lochte and three other of his swimmers.

Two of those athletes talked to Brazilian police. They will now be returning to the United States, literally landing in just moments.

Our senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, live in Rio with the latest.

My goodness, Nick. This story has changed time and time again in just the past 24 hours.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What hasn't really changed, though, is embarrassment I'm sure everybody involved feels.

James Feigen, according to Reuters, making that $11,000 to charity so he can get his passport back, apparently, and then be allowed to leave the country. That would mean all four swimmers would be bound back for the U.S., and I think that pretty much draws the line on this.

The police themselves, despite contradicting -- despite police contradicting their statements, I don't think anyone wants to see this embarrassing affair continue here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): Swimmers Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger on their way back to the U.S. after Brazilian police claim they admitted Ryan Lochte's story about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio was not true.

The U.S. Olympic committee apologizing for the actions of four team USA swimmers, saying in a statement, "The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable, nor does it represent the values of team USA. We apologize to our hosts in Rio and the people of Brazil for this distracting ordeal."

Brazilian police say the athletes were not robbed, and that they're not victims. Police say they were held by security at this gas station after urinating in the back alley and vandalizing a bathroom. FERNANDO VELOSO, CHIEF OF POLICE (through translator): The athletes

were really disturbed somehow. He was actually very kind of angry. So there is the use of a weapon to control probably one of them. The answer, yes.

WALSH: The surveillance video shows one of the athletes bending over, seeming to pull up his pants before an attendant appears. They then leave the alley, attempt to get into a taxi, but it's not theirs.

Once in the correct car, an armed security guard approaches, demanding that they stay until police arrive. They're later seen sitting on the curb, hands in the air, with Lochte standing and appearing to take something out of his pocket. The athletes were told they had to pay for the damage they'd caused.

[06:15:08] VELOSO (through translator): So they left their money just to almost to pay for the damage that they caused, and leave the place before the police could arrive.

WALSH: Ryan Lochte is back in the U.S., remaining silent after Brazilian officials say his account on Sunday was fabricated.

RYAN LOCHTE, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: We got pulled over in our taxi, and these guys came out with a badge, a police badge. They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns.

WALSH: But Lochte's attorney is backing up his client's claim, saying "A gun was pointed at the swimmers, and they were forced to get out of the cab and give up their money. No matter what are country you are in, that is robbery. And robbery is a serious crime."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now, if we look at the U.S. Olympic Committee statement late last night, they're trying to draw a line under this, navigating a way between the Brazilian version of a voluntary payment to calm everybody down at the gas station and the notion of armed robbery, saying the security guards that approached had firearms on display.

They're saying James Feigen changed his testimony in order to get his passport back. I'm sure at a later stage, we may hear some of these swimmers suggest that they said what was necessary to be allowed to leave the country and calm this all down. That's my supposition here.

But still, a line being drawn, maybe successfully, under what has been a very embarrassing three or four days of different stories. And at the end of the day, the issue of armed robbery in the host city of the Olympics at the top of the headlines.

CAMEROTA: Very embarrassing and very confusing. Nick, thanks so much for explaining it to us.

So what does this mean for the careers of these four swimmers? Will their sponsors drop them? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARLOW: Well, this morning the U.S. Olympic Committee is apologizing for the actions of Ryan Lochte and his three teammates. Brazilian police say their story about a robbery at gunpoint was actually vandalism and not a robbery at all.

Reuters this morning also reporting that one of the swimmers is paying an $11,000 fine to settle the dispute. That money going to charity. Ryan Lochte, though, through his attorney, still sticking to his story, saying, yes, it was a robbery.

Let's bring in CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan. Also with us from Rio, former Brazilian diplomat and professor of international public affairs at Columbia University, Marcos Troyjo. Thank you both for being here.

Christine Brennan, where do I begin? You've got the Brazilian police coming out in this long press conference yesterday, saying this was not robbery at all. Also saying they should apologize to all the people of Rio for smearing the name of our city. And then you've got the USOC, the Olympic Committee, coming out and essentially throwing them under the bus.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Yes, well, when the Brazilian police and the U.S. Olympic Committee are agreeing, I think we have a consensus here. And that statement from the U.S. Olympic Committee that came out late last night was remarkable. And I think it was correct to apologize, to say that the behavior of these four swimmers was unacceptable, to say they basically had hijacked the last, what, four, five days it of the Olympic games.

I totally agree with that. I think it's the right thing to do. USA swimming also came out with a strongly worded statement. And it is a mess. I know a lot of people are probably saying, what in the world do we believe?

But as representatives of the United States, Ryan Lochte and his three teammates had to behave better. There is no excuse for what they did, no matter what the exact facts are. It's an embarrassment, and the U.S. Olympic Committee made that clear in its statement.

Professor Troyjo, there are a lot of twists and turns that have happened in this story, but there does seem to be one germ of truth in it, in that after the vandalism that happened at this bathroom, these guys, these U.S. swimmers, there were guns pointed at them by security guards, and they did have to pay cash in order to leave the scene. Obviously, that's not how vandalism is handled in the U.S. Is there any way to chalk this up to confusion?

MARCOS TROYJO, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC AFFAIRS, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Well, the reports that we have from witnesses, they basically tell us that the people in the gas station called the police. They were waiting for the police. And at one point, it was -- it was the group of American swimmers themselves that offered to pay for the damage to the property they had caused.

And since the police were taking too long to arrive, they simply just decided to pay. It's very unlikely that this was a robbery, especially given the amounts. And I think it was in the American swimmers' interest, as well, to leave the gas station as soon as they could.

HARLOW: So Christine, overall, this has taken a spotlight off what's important about the games, and that is the incredible accomplishments. So that's unfortunate from whatever angle you're coming at this from. At the same time, the future of these swimmers -- Ryan Lochte, 32- year-old, 12-time medalist -- sponsors, what happens?

BRENNAN: Well, I think all four of them will be suspended for a period of time. I think it's going to be a long period of time. USA swimming has shown over the years that they are relentless in their punishment of athletes.

Michael Phelps, three months for that picture of him smoking a marijuana pipe back, what, eight years or so ago. And a six-month suspension for his DUI.

I suspect Ryan Lochte could be banned for life. Maybe his career's almost over anyway, and I think these other swimmers will be banned, as well. The USOC and USA swimming are incredibly serious about that. We'll see what the sponsors do, as well. But I cannot imagine a sponsor wants to be anywhere near Ryan Lochte right now.

CAMEROTA: Professor, as a Brazilian, how much tension did this cause? Is there any lasting effect?

[06:25:00] TROYJO: I don't think there will be a lasting effect. I think Brazilian society really admire the United States. The feeling of anti-Americanism here is not as strong as other countries, like Venezuela, or Cuba, or even Argentina. And right now, the U.S. has really started really a particularly low point. I mean, we're talking about the two largest democracies of the west, the two largest economies of the Americas. And their commercial exchange is only about $60 billion. China/U.S. relations is ten times that much.

So I think the only way for Brazil/U.S. relations is up. And this is not going to be an incident at all. I think Brazilians are finding this -- they found it weird. Now they find it funny. It was very welcomed that apologies were presented, but this is going to be it.

HARLOW: Professor, to you. I mean, in terms of the chances of extradition for Ryan Lochte, it sounds like you're saying that's not going to happen. But some legal analysts are saying it really matters whether he perjured himself, whether that statement to Brazilian police was a sworn statement or whether it wasn't. There's a distinction there in the law and whether or not he could be extradited.

TROYJO: He's probably not going to be extradited. I don't think the Brazilian legal system is going to demand that. Probably what prosecutors here and legal authorities will ask of Ryan Lochte is that he correct his statement according to the version that was also presented to the other swimmers. And he's probably going to have to be asked to make a charitable donation as the other swimmers did. CAMEROTA: Well, Christine, you predicted all week long that we would

find the answers; we would get to the bottom of this. It does seem as though today we have done that. Christine, Professor, thank you very much for all of the information from Rio.

HARLOW: Now will we hear from Ryan Lochte or not. That's a big question.

All right. Moving on, the Clinton Foundation confirming it won't take any money from foreign or corporate donors if Hillary Clinton is elected the next president. Critics, though, insisting the foundation should stop taking them now. Who is right? Our experts tackle that next.

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