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FBI To Release Clinton Emails Reports To Public; State Department Recovers Clinton Emails Related To Benghazi; Trump Heads To Mexico Before Immigration Speech; Report: Trump Model Management Skirted Visa Laws; James Blake On Colin Kaepernick's Silent Protest; Chicago's Gun Violence Epidemic. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired August 31, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And why it recommended no charges against Clinton. This, as word that the State Department has recovered dozens of deleted emails on the Benghazi attack.

Let's bring in CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod. And, Axe, the main problem for Clinton in this is you were not supposed to delete -- you could argue she shouldn't have deleted anything, she should have turned it over.

But even within the guidelines that allowed some discretion in deletion you are not supposed to delete anything that would have been about Benghazi and now they've found emails that were deleted about Benghazi. How do you recover from that politically?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, we don't know what those emails said. This is going to be a continuing story from now to November. I think we can be pretty sure of that and new chapters keep evolving here. The release of the FBI report and presumably her transcript -- these 15,000 emails that were deleted. This is going to be in the backdrop of this election from now until November.

The question is are there revelations within these emails that are more damning than the ones we've seen already? If the answer is no, then I think it's background music. If the answer is yes, it becomes more of a central issue.

And then there's the issue of Donald Trump and the bear thing. Is it -- are these problems enough for people to overcome their profound concerns about Trump? So far, the answer has --

CUOMO: You remember the bear thing?

CAMEROTA: No.

AXELROD: -- been no.

CUOMO: The bear thing is there are two guys in the forest and this bear is coming after them, and one guy sees the other one lacing up his shoes and making sure they're tight. And he's like what are you going to do, man, you can't outrun this bear? And the guy says I don't have to, I just have to outrun you.(Laughter) And Axe uses it as a metaphor that it's not about perfection, it's about being better than the other choice.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: How did you know he was referring to that bear joke?

CUOMO: Well, one, I read it in his book and two, he's said it on the show.

AXELROD: We've had -- we've had this discussion before, but the bear are voters and right now Trump is less swift of foot than Hillary and so I think that's a lot of what she's counting on here.

CUOMO: I just loved watching Alisyn's face change when you said the bear thing. She was like --

CAMEROTA: I didn't know if there was a picnic basket coming up somewhere.

CUOMO: What is -- what is this bear and why don't I know him?

CAMEROTA: Exactly. I like you're channeling -- you're inside David Axelrod's head. David, let's move on from the bear unless you have another frightening animal that you'd like to insert into this next --

AXELROD: Well, let's see.

CAMEROTA: Yes, let's see. OK, so "The New York Times" editorial board, yesterday, called for the Clinton Foundation to, today -- not wait until Hillary Clinton wins, if she does, the presidency -- today, to stop accepting foreign and corporate donations. And if she wins the presidency, for even Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton to sever ties with the Foundation because of all of this air of impropriety.

AXELROD: OK, so there were three guys in a canoe --

(Laughter)

I -- listen, I think that if I'm there -- if I'm thinking strategically in their corner I'm thinking A, this foundation, they don't draw salaries, it does charitable work and if they take these steps does this kill the controversy? What would happen then is well, if you're doing this now, why didn't you do it when you were Secretary of State?

And so, you know, the question is whether this -- a move now of that sort would quell the controversy or would it just advance it in a different way? I think I would probably stay where I am right now if I were them, on this. Again, this is a question of are there other elements of the story that we don't know yet?

This story last week, I thought, was over-reported about the visits to the Secretary of State because nobody's been able to show that there was some action that resulted from these meetings that was untoward. If that were to be revealed this would be a much bigger story. So far, that hasn't happened and I'm sure that there are a couple of people over at the RNC and the Trump headquarters who are looking for those connections. CUOMO: What's the plus-minus on Trump going to Mexico to visit the president?

AXELROD: Well, I mean, first of all, it elevates him to the stature of a -- of an international leader, which is what he wants to give the appearance of that. It softens some of the really -- or is an attempt to soften some of the harsh rhetoric that he's used.

The danger is I don't know how Pena Nieto, who has his own political problems in Mexico, doesn't use this as some sort of platform to say we're not paying for a wall. Our people are not murderers and rapists. If he doesn't do that he's creating political problems for himself.

[07:35:00] Remember, he extended this invitation to both candidates. I think he got the one he was hoping wouldn't come and not the one he was hoping would come, and now he has to deal with it.

So I think this is fraught for Donald Trump but it fits with the fact that he's making this speech on immigration tonight which, you know, he's cleverly hyped by taking many different positions on immigration in the last 10 days so as to create mystery about what he's going to say tonight and I'm sure a lot of people will be watching. This is a great prelude I'm sure, in his own mind, to that speech.

CAMEROTA: You know, it will be very interesting to see how this visit with the president then colors the speech because one thing about Donald Trump is that he is influenced by whoever he has met with most recently. And so, if the president of Mexico makes the case about why he should be friendlier to Mexico, then you might hear some strains of that in the speech tonight.

AXELROD: You might, although I think the thing that is really interesting is how does he walk this path? You know, he floated this trial balloon last week about a more humane immigration policy and, perhaps, a path to legalization and this was roundly attacked by some of his key supporters. By Rush Limbaugh, by Ann Coulter, by people who have been in his amen corner for a long time and who said this is -- you're going too far here. He pulled back from that.

So the question is how far can he go in this speech to reassure people that he's not -- that he is not on the jagged edge here with his immigration plan and still keep, in his corner, his base? It's a tricky piece of business for him.

CAMEROTA: David Axelrod, great to talk to you. There is a bear right behind you.

AXELROD: OK, guys, I'm going to think of some more jokes.

CAMEROTA: OK, good.

AXELROD: OK, see you all.

CAMEROTA: Fantastic. All right, so some potentially damaging allegations against Donald Trump from former models at his modeling agency. Did he have them work in the U.S. illegally? And, of course, what does that mean for his stance on immigration? One of the models making the accusations and the reporter who broke the story will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:41:20] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Rachel, who is wearing a satin camisole top.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, everybody really seemed to have had a good time. I want to thank all of the folks over at Trump Models because the models were just great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: All right, so that model that you briefly saw wearing the camisole on the runway on the second season of "The Apprentice" was Rachel Blais. She's a Canadian woman. She was represented by Trump Model Management and she and other models say that the agency employed them in the U.S. without work visas. They were docked massive fees from their earnings and were encouraged to deceive custom officials.

Rachel Blais joins us now and James West, as well. He's a senior digital correspondent with "Mother Jones", the magazine that broke this story. Welcome to both of you.

JAMES WEST, SENIOR DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT, "MOTHER JONES": Thank you.

CAMEROTA: James, let me start with you since you've been reporting on this. What did you learn about the Trump Model Management Agency and whether or not they broke any immigration laws?

WEST: This is one of Donald Trump's most prized possessions as a company. He owns 85 percent of this thing. He still earns millions of dollars from Trump Model Management, according to election filings. So this is a big deal for him.

And what we learned was four models in various years from 2004 to 2011 encouraged to skirt immigration laws. Two told me that they were asked to write down false addresses on the immigration forms, as well. Things like send your portfolio ahead of time by mail so the customs officials don't find it. And as we know, working as a tourist in the United States, you simply can't do it. You have to have work authorizations.

CAMEROTA: Right. So, Rachel, that brings us to you. You worked with the Trump Model Management for three years.

RACHEL BLAIS, FORMER TRUMP AGENCY MODEL: Yes.

CAMEROTA: What was your experience in terms of how you got into the country and whether or not you had the right visa?

BLAIS: I definitely didn't have the visa. I got in in April 2004 and I only got the visa in September 2004. In between April and August 2004 I spent most of my time in New York and worked and did a lot of jobs to which they deducted taxes. But I didn't have a visa until September. I didn't actually start the visa process until August.

CAMEROTA: And what did the Trump Model Management agency tell you about working without a visa?

BLAIS: It's quite of a normalized practice in the industry when you're -- for your first time you go to New York or to the U.S. Yet, you know, you can't -- as a model, one of the things you learn quickly is that you don't -- you shouldn't ask too many questions. So you just know that you have to do -- if you want to work you have to do as you are told, yet you're kind of aware that it's not legal.

CAMEROTA: And so you say that it's sort of normal in the industry and that models know not to ask too many questions, but was there something different about the Trump Model Management agency where they skirted the rules even more so than other places that you worked?

BLAIS: Yes, I mean, I worked with a different agency when I left Trump and they got me my visa straight away. And some girls get it quite quickly but it's quite a spread out way of working for agencies to not have girls coming in with a work visa.

But, for example, that summer in New York we were about seven foreign models in that apartment, I believe, during that summer and I believe none of us had a work visa. And maybe me and one more had ended up getting one.

CAMEROTA: James, what did you learn about how they did business at Trump versus other places?

[07:45:00] WEST: This is a guy that runs on his business record, right, as the nominee for president. So I think looking into his business practices was really interesting for me, and it's not just Rachel's story in the piece at "Mother Jones". There are other models in there that talk about living in a basement apartment in the East Village of New York, cheek by jowl, stuffed into rooms, no air conditioning. A kind of really intense situation.

CAMEROTA: But is that not standard? I mean, when you're starting out aren't you sort of all packed into a one-bedroom apartment? Was there something that -- I mean, basically, what I'm referring to is that Rachel said to you in the article that "Honestly, they are the most crooked agency I've worked for and I've worked for quite a few."

BLAIS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: So what set the Trump agency apart?

WEST: Well, other people also told me, and Rachel has this experience as well, that they were left with a bad taste in their mouth. That there was a system of payments and advances. Rent for Rachel and others were up to $1,600 a month at this place for a bunk bed in a stuffed, crowded room.

CAMEROTA: Rachel, what was your experience? What made them, to your mind, the most crooked agency?

BLAIS: It's not as much on the immigration level. That is quite common but there were definitely some agencies are more honest about this. Yet, what made them the most crooked is how they use these foreign models that came in without visa as the expenses that they faked in those statements and the state of the apartments, which was one of the worst I've ever lived in. And I've seen quite a few in New York City and internationally and this was by far the worst model's apartment I've lived in.

These expenses -- behavior from agencies are quite spread out. But Trump has -- from all the agencies I've been with -- I've been with three agencies in New York and I know a lot of girls that's been with different agencies. They are, by far, the one that are the most crooked when it comes to financial accounts and statements.

CAMEROTA: Rachel, are you worried about speaking out right now, I mean, given that Trump is so powerful and running for president?

BLAIS: Well, you know, I have spoken out about the industry in the past. I've been approached -- as I've been a model at Trump Models I've been approach about this topic and to speak out about the actual situation of immigration and the financial statement with Trump Model.

And I don't have anything to lose -- that's the reality -- because I spoke out once. I don't work anymore in the industry and that's OK. All I have to gain is bring out the truth and let American people know what's going on with this business of his.

CAMEROTA: Well, Rachel Blais, that is brave. Thank you for you candor and speaking out. And, James West, thank you for sharing the reporting with us. Everyone can go to "Mother Jones" and read more about this story.

WEST: My pleasure, thanks for having me.

CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here. Let's get over to Chris.

BLAIS: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right, got a big guest for you coming up, former tennis star James Blake. You remember, he had his victories on the court, but off the court. Remember he got arrested wrongly and roughed up by cops last year? So what does he think of the Colin Kaepernick silent protest of the National Anthem? Is that the right way to tackle police brutality? We're going to ask Blake live -- there he is, looking good as always -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:10] CUOMO: Look, we know that this dialogue about race and policing in America is very controversial and people get very heated. So, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decides not to stand for the Anthem, he gets critics. He says look, it's not about loving the country, it's about saying that not everything is right here. This is my way of making that message. Now, this is an issue that former tennis star James Blake knows very well from a different perspective. (Video playing) Here's the video. He's just hanging out outside his hotel and this cop comes out of nowhere, wrestles him to the ground. James is trying to explain they've got the wrong guy, he doesn't listen. It was determined excessive force, surprise, surprise.

So, what does Blake make of the Kaepernick controversy and the bigger issues that we should be talking about? So let's deal with the controversy, first of all. It's always great to see you --

JAMES BLAKE, CNN U.S. OPEN TENNIS ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

CUOMO: -- and I hate having to talk to you in this context but I know the issues matter. So, he does it, he knew it was going to be controversial, he's getting a lot of heat. The fairest criticism may be that he put his teammates and his team and his organization in a rough spot. This isn't what James -- what Jim Brown did, this isn't what Muhammad Ali did. A little different for Ali because it was a solo sport, but what's your take on it?

BLAKE: Well, I think that's probably the toughest avenue of it for me to speak on because I played an individual sport. So for me, really the only regret -- I tried to play my career having no regrets. The only regret I have is that I didn't speak out more. I didn't talk about social issues and really get involved because I was so singularly focused.

And I think for him he made this choice that this is bigger than football and this is something where he feels he does need to use his voice for a greater good to hold the country or the powers that be accountable for what he sees as a problem in our country.

And if that puts his teammates under more scrutiny -- I don't know if he spoke to them personally. I can't really speak to the team aspect of it, but for him to speak out and use his voice, I do think that's a great thing. That's not unpatriotic in any way. To me, it seems very patriotic to hold America to a higher standard, to want it to be better.

And I think we're in a country where we've got an entire campaign slogan to make America great again and that's not seen as unpatriotic when you're holding the country to a higher standard. You want things to be better.

CUOMO: Did the disrespect of the country that people read into, not standing for the Anthem, wind up overpowering the message of we need more progress?

BLAKE: Yes, and I think that's a chance he was taking. Whether or not people will see it that way, how they're going to react, and I think you don't know that. But for me, a protest gets people speaking. This is a topic that's been -- I've been approached about it and talked to a lot of people just around coffee tables very much in the last few days so I think he's accomplished that mission. So that's good that people are talking about it. Whether it could have been done a little bit better in a more respectful way, that I don't know. I don't know. People have said oh, he should have done it in a different way. Well, I don't know of another way he could have gotten this many people talking about it.

[07:55:00] And I think the way he did it in the protest -- a song that in its third verse that we don't sing anymore, it actually advocates the killing of slaves. So, I think his message is one that -- it does strike a chord and it strikes a nerve with some people but I feel like he's been given that right to do that.

CUOMO: Fair for a guy like Rodney Harrison, an NFL great, played for the Patriots and the Chargers. Now he's on "NBC", I think, as an analyst, and a good one.

BLAKE: Yes.

CUOMO: He says he's not a black guy --

BLAKE: Yes.

CUOMO: -- I'm a black guy. He doesn't know what it's like to be black, he's mixed race, he doesn't know. Is that fair criticism?

BLAKE: I think that's awful. I think Rodney Harrison is a great analyst. But when I was very young -- I'm mixed race, as well, and when I was very young I had an adult say that --

CUOMO: They're getting in my ear saying he took it back. He said it. He may now say --

BLAKE: He did.

CUOMO: -- he apologizes for saying it but he's not the only one to say that, he just said it out loud. And tell us about your experience.

BLAKE: And so I had an adult say what a shame it is to be mixed because you can be hated by both sides. And I tried to immediately walk that back and see the other side and say I feel like I could be loved by both sides, as well. And for Colin Kaepernick, he's had to deal with that his whole life, too. So when you're feeling hatred from both sides that's a tough position to be in.

So whether or not you're black, you're mixed, you're white, if you feel hatred it's a pretty powerful message to you and for Colin, I'm sure he's hearing tons of it right now. And then to hear it from the black community, as well, that he's not a part of that community and to hear from the white community that you're not part a part of that community, it can be isolating.

And, you know, I've dealt with that my life, too, being mixed race. Where should I fit in? Is it -- is it disrespectful to my white mother to associate with the black culture? Is it disrespectful for my black father to associate more with the white community? And I think that's something that really shouldn't be brought up in

this kind of a conversation. He's doing something as an American and something that he feels strongly about. His racial profile shouldn't be something that's called into question by Rodney Harrison.

CUOMO: So let's talk about the it, on what it is about. Violence between police and African-American and impoverished communities made manifest by what we're focusing on in Chicago right now.

BLAKE: Yes.

CUOMO: When you look at that epidemic, which is what it is, right, what do you see as what needs attention?

BLAKE: Well, for me, one of the biggest things, and I said this last year when I was a victim of excessive force, is accountability. I think what you're seeing is the two percent of cops that are doing their job the wrong way, getting 90 to 95 percent of the attention. They're the ones that need to be sort of weeded out and taken off the force and not given this power that they're able to abuse.

I think we want to give police officers power. We want to give them authority because we trust them to keep us safe. And if the trust is lost it becomes a very dangerous situation where society is not trusting the cops, the cops aren't trusting the society to do the right thing to actually comply because we're scared.

When that happened to me I was scared because of what I had seen on the news and what could have happened. So I immediately was saying I want no miscommunication. I don't want anything to happen because we're distrustful because of things that we've seen in the media.

So I think what really needs to happen is possibly the police unions need to stop protecting the officers that don't deserve the right to have the badge. I respect so much those that do have the badge and do their job the right way. They're being harmed by the ones that aren't and I think that's what we're seeing on the news too much.

CUOMO: Talk about a sticky issue of being hated by both sides, try being in the media covering issues like this but that's part of the job. And as you said, it's often the price of provocation to get this out there.

So, policing -- and the problem with policing isn't really the focus of why you have that problem in Chicago. If you look at it, it's gangs and it's a cycle of opportunity that gangs have exploited in their favor to get people into their ranks instead of legitimate ranks of opportunity. What do you do about that because that goes bigger than guns, you know, anything.

BLAKE: That is bigger than guns. I think it could start with guns. There's too many out there. There's too many that are available, legally or illegally. So I think common sense -- whichever side of the -- whichever side of the aisle you're on, common sense gun laws make sense to over 70 percent of the people in this country. So I think that's something that just makes sense to get that done. And, unfortunately, the NRA seems to have so much power. Even though they only have five million members they have a voice because they're all very vocal. They're all willing to go to the polls. They're all willing to protest. They're all willing to fight for their rights. And I think if, on the other side -- the common sense side -- there needs to be people that are willing to stand up and fight that good fight for what we all believe is right.

CUOMO: James Blake, as you know, I've always respected you, even more for what comes out of your head than anything you've ever held as a racket in your hand. That's why I didn't take this time to talk tennis. We're still early in the U.S. Open. Please come back. We'll talk about thetournament as it gets later on, but I wanted your ideas on this. This stuff matters more, we both know that.

BLAKE: Absolutely, thank you.

CUOMO: Appreciate it, James Blake. A lot of news going on right now. We've got live interviews with the Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence and former Mexican president Vicente Fox. What do you say, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I will build a great, great wall and I will have Mexico pay for that wall.

ENRIQUE PENA NIETO, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO: There's no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that.

CAMEROTA: Donald Trump making a surprise visit to Mexico today.