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Donald Trump's Tax Returns from 1995 Released by "New York Times"; Hurricane Threatens Haiti; Kim Kardashian Robbed at Gunpoint in Paris Hotel; Clinton Talks About Sanders Supporters In Leaked Audio; Trump's Unsubstantiated Claim That Hillary Cheated On Bill. Aired 8-8:30a ET
Aired October 03, 2016 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00] JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Some of Donald Trump's supporters call him a genius for this. Hillary Clinton says that Trump's returns confirm he is a business failure. So much at stake with 36 days now until Election Day, one day until the vice presidential debate, six days until the presidential debate. We have it all covered for you. I want to begin with CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju. You know, Manu, 36-61, Manu, the most important number today might be $916 million.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning. Now, before last week's debate, remember that Donald Trump had been on an upswing. Polls had shown him beating Hillary Clinton in a number of key battlegrounds, but then he stumbled in that debate, got into a days- long feud with a Latina beauty queen, and now these new questions about whether Donald Trump even paid his federal income taxes, and about a nearly $1 billion loss in a single year, all of which shining a new light on his own business record.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He didn't pay any federal income tax, so --
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That makes me smart.
RAJU: After refusing to release his tax returns for months, Donald Trump and his campaign defending revelations in "New York Times" that Trump once claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax return, which legally could have allowed Trump to pay nothing in federal income taxes for nearly two decades.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: There's no one who has shown more genius in their way to maneuver around the tax code.
RAJU: Trump's high-profile advisers responding by praising the GOP candidate's business savvy.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: He's a genius. What he did was he took advantage of something that could save his enterprise.
RAJU: Trump himself tweeting that he knows the tax laws better than anyone, and he's the only one who can fix them.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (I) VERMONT: Trump goes around and says, hey, I'm worth billions. I'm a successful businessman, but I don't pay any taxes. But you, you make $15 an hour, you pay the taxes, not me.
RAJU: Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani defending the practice in a contentious exchange on CNN Sunday.
GIULIANI: Most Americans take advantage of every deduction available to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most Americans pay federal income taxes, sir, and Donald Trump apparently did not.
RAJU: Trump campaigning in Pennsylvania over the weekend lobbing unfounded attacks against Hillary Clinton despite warnings from GOP leaders to stay away from personal attacks.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton's only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself. I don't even think she's loyal to Bill, if you want to know the truth.
RAJU: And, again, attempting to raise doubts over Clinton's health.
TRUMP: Here's a woman, she's supposed to fight all of these different things, and she can't make it 15 feet to her car.
RAJU: Mocking her recent bout of pneumonia
TRUMP: Give me a break.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: Now the Trump campaign said that everything has been legal. They paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes like property and real estate taxes, but not yet denying "The Times" report. Tomorrow will be a key moment as well. We'll see how Trump's running mate Mike Pence, deals with questions about the Republican nominee's taxes.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Manu, thank you very much for that. Let's bring in Trump campaign senior adviser and former Republican congressman from Georgia Jack Kingston. Good morning, congressman.
JACK KINGSTON, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: Good morning, Alisyn. How are you doing?
CAMEROTA: I'm doing well. So voters and viewers today have to decide whether or not these revelations about Trump's taxes make him a genius or make him greedy. And so how does a loss of $916 million in the 1990s because of failed casinos that went bankrupt and a failed airline make him a business genius?
KINGSTON: Well, I think people understand that he is a man who owns lots of different enterprises, lots of different businesses in lots of different locations and states, and that often you do have losses. And sometimes you get tax deductions because of those losses. But he has paid income taxes. He has paid state, local, and federal taxes along the way, or he would be in jail. Even "The New York Times," which we all know isn't exactly a Republican advocate newspaper, they admit that he was totally legal.
And, I might point out, "Forbes" reported that in 2014 "The New York Times" did not pay income taxes. And they're not the only corporation to do that. And I think people understand the tax code is complicated. Donald Trump has said we're going to make it simplified, and he knows the tax system, and I think he would be a good person to do that.
CAMEROTA: Now the problem, congressman, is that in his tax proposal, what he has put out for voters to look at, it doesn't address this issue of carrying over a loss and this kind of loophole for real estate developers. So he can say that he knows best how to work the system, but he's not addressing how to fix it.
[08:05:03] KINGSTON: I think, though, going from seven different tax brackets down to three, giving a tax reduction to corporations from approximately 35 percent now to 24 percent, which is what their foreign competitors pay, and for small businesses 15 percent, I think that's what people want to hear. They want to know, well, what kind of jobs will be created from the tax code? And they're looking at what we had in the last eight years which Hillary Clinton has been a part of, and they're saying, you know what, I don't want to continue on the status quo. I want to something different.
CAMEROTA: Congressman, as someone who had to deal in Congress with the budget, you know, the country's budget, are you comfortable with a billionaire not contributing for two decades to our national health care and education systems and infrastructure and the debt, paying down the debt? Are you comfortable with that?
KINGSTON: I am comfortable that Donald Trump has been paying taxes and I'm comfortable that he has been contributing to the economic development of the cities and towns where he has projects.
CAMEROTA: But not federal income taxes?
KINGSTON: I believe he's been paying federal income taxes or he would be in jail if he did not.
CAMEROTA: This shows that he hasn't for two decades.
KINGSTON: Well, it showed that it's possible. But we don't really know. I feel a little queasy that "The New York Times" is out there publishing somebody's tax returns, which I don't believe it legal for them to have to begin with. And, you know, being a paranoid Republican, you wonder is this Lois Lerner back at the IRS slipping things out the back door. You have to remember some of this is not coming from exactly the Trump objective journalism that's out there. It's coming from very partisan things. "The New York Times" is practically a Hillary Clinton super PAC these days.
CAMEROTA: Congressman, are you saying if he did not -- if it is true that he did not pay federal income taxes for almost two decades, that that would be illegal?
KINGSTON: That would be illegal if he wasn't paying and complying with the tax code. There's no allegation, even from "The New York Times," that he's not complying with the tax laws.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
KINGSTON: But I want to point out something, though, that's real important. Remember, his projects did create jobs and did create tax bases in their communities. These were bricks and mortars projects. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has only made millions and millions of dollars from speeches and apparently selling access. There were no jobs created because of the wealth that Bill and Hillary Clinton made for themselves.
CAMEROTA: Listen, Donald Trump is obviously in a different field, and lots of people lost their jobs when his casinos went bankrupt. But, congressman, couldn't he put all this to rest if he just released his taxes, his tax returns, as every candidate has done for 40 years?
KINGSTON: Well, he has, as you know, released his financial disclosure. It was 105 pages long. He did that in May. His taxes are under audit, and I have personally taken the time to call a tax attorney and say, is this legit if you had a client who was being audited, would you advise them to not disclose their taxes? And he said absolutely because the minute you do that, then you're going to have everybody second-guessing what the IRS is doing, and the audit would never end. He has said that once the audit is over, he will disclose his taxes. But, remember --
CAMEROTA: The problem with what you're saying with that 105-page thing that he did put out answers all the questions is that it doesn't. We actually don't know how many -- how much he paid in taxes for these past years. We don't know his tax rate. We don't it know how much he's given to charity. Do you think that these are all things that voters should know before Election Day?
KINGSTON: I think that it is important for some voters, but I think for the majority of voters who have seen their household income fall in the middle class families statistically have had income fall from $57,000 to $53,000, 43 million people are on food stamps and 94 million people are underemployed or unemployed, and I think the average person is saying, well, maybe he should release and maybe he shouldn't, but I'm more worried about my own opportunities and my family and what Hillary Clinton refers to as basement dwellers, get those millennials out of the house so they can have jobs and opportunities. I think Donald Trump is addressing this economy and he wants to change things. And I think that's the higher priority for people right now.
CAMEROTA: Congressman, do you give money to charity?
KINGSTON: Yes.
CAMEROTA: OK. If you found out your candidate had not given any money to charity since 2008, which is the last time anybody can find evidence of it, would that make you uncomfortable?
KINGSTON: It would make me uncomfortable. But I can say this. I've asked this question in closed door meetings many, many times, and there is a list of charities that he has given to and people who say we really appreciate what he has done. So I have no doubt that Donald Trump and the Trump Foundation, the Trump family is extremely generous with charities.
[08:10:00] CAMEROTA: Well, look, that's different. Unfortunately, the Trump Foundation, this is what I'm referring to, is the investigation s into the Trump foundation show that it's not his money. He's taking other people -- other people are putting money into the Trump Foundation and he is transferring that to charities but that he himself has not opened his wallet since he gave to the Trump Foundation in 2008 with the possible exception of covering the hurricane.
KINGSTON: By law, remember, he has to have other donors to that foundation, and that's just the way the corporate tax law works on it, so he has to have those donations. You know, I believe he's a generous guy.
But I want to stay focused on, really and truly I think that people back home right now who are suffering not so much those of us who are in Washington and, you know, maybe tied up in some of the political circles, you know, we're doing fine. But I think the average family is really suffering out there right now and that this isn't, you know, the disclosure of his taxes isn't the paramount reason they're going to go to polls. It's not why he gets 15,000 people to his allies and Hillary Clinton gets 1,000. People want to change. And he's the element of change. He is talking about economy and jobs and infrastructure and things that are ringing to them and appealing to them.
CAMEROTA: Congressman Jack Kingston, thanks so much for being on with your take on all of this.
KINGSTON: Well, thanks a lot.
CAMEROTA: Let's get over to John.
BERMAN: Thanks, Alisyn.
Hurricane Matthew headed right at Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica. This is a powerful category four storm packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour along with torrential rain. Residents up and down the east coast of the United States now watching this storm very closely. Let's get to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the latest track. Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, yes, the hurricane hunter now in the storm just found a wind to 140. So expect that 130 to get upgraded here anytime soon. It is a category four hurricane without a doubt. I know we've talked about maybe the potential for these other areas of convex to be other eyes. That's simply not the case. There's one eye to this storm, there's one center. It's right there and it's headed for that little peninsula of Haiti.
And we can see 30 inches of rainfall in that spot. And you take all that mudslide and all that rain and you push it into people, push it into cities, we are going to get a disaster there in Haiti. We hope that it misses, even by a few miles that would be a big deal.
But where does it go from there? Does it get up toward Miami? That's the left side of the cone. It's possible. Is it all the way out to almost the middle of Bermuda, middle of the Atlantic? Sure, that's possible, too. But we still have to watch 100-mile-per-hour, possibly a major storm, headed toward the east coast he especially the Carolina coast or as far north as Newfoundland that would be seven or eight days from now. But this is a big storm in warm water. I don't think it's going to die anytime soon, John.
BERMAN: They are going to have to watch that very closely and see if it drifts west. Chad Myers, thanks very much.
Kim Kardashian robbed at gunpoint in a Paris hotel. Armed men locked the reality TV star in a bathroom and took off with millions of dollars worth of jewelry and cellphones. CNN's Jim Bittermann is live in Paris with the late-breaking details. Jim, what are you learning?
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that jewelry included one ring that was worth $4 million alone, and the contents of her jewelry box estimated worth about $5 million. That's according to the prosecutor here.
They're still investigating, trying to figure out what happened. They know that five gunmen came in here masked. They overwhelmed the concierge and demanded that they be taken upstairs to Kim Kardashian's apartment in this rather luxurious and discrete hotel. Very few people know about this place as a hotel, but a lot of stars stay here as a kind of safe house in Paris. Not so safe, apparently, because of what happened last night.
And there's a great deal of worry her about what's happened to Paris' image. The mayor of Paris has been saying recently in a communique that she condemns the attack and wanted to remind everybody that 2 million people gathered for an event here this weekend without a problem. Still, after all the terrorist attacks and this now, it's going really be damaging for the image of Paris.
The first word anybody had about this, it happened about 3:00 in the morning, and that came from Kanye West, her husband, who, in fact, was in the middle of a concert when he interrupted it. Here is how it went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KANYE WEST, MUSICIAN: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There's a family emergency. I have to stop the show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: So the investigation continues. Alisyn? CAMEROTA: Jim, thanks so much for that update.
Well, Donald Trump is looking to capitalize on this it leaked audio of Hillary Clinton talking about Senator Bernie Sanders and his supporters. Could the leak somehow damage Clinton's standing with millennials? The Clinton camp is here to respond next on NEW DAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Donald Trump is attacking Hillary Clinton over a leaked audio clip recording in February where she talks about then rival Bernie Sanders and his supporters. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a deep desire to believe we can have free college, free health care. It's a false promise, but I don't think you tell idealistic people, particularly young people, that they bought into a false promise. His ideas are indefensible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: All right, so Hillary Clinton, you might say, is already millennially challenged. At least she's not doing as well as President Obama did with young voters. So how does this latest audio clip affect things?
Joining us now is Neera Tanden. She is the co-chair of the Clinton/Kaine Transition Project and the former policy director for Hillary Clinton. Neera, thanks so much.
I mentioned that Donald Trump already picking up on this and he did have a quick sound bite over the weekend. Let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders' supporters are hopeless and ignorant basement dwellers. Then, of course, she thinks people who vote for and follow us are deplorable and irredeemable. I don't think so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Respond to the Bernie Sanders clip, you know, Hillary Clinton talking about Bernie Sanders voters says people who live in basements and Donald Trump picking up on that. You never want it to put voters in a box, do you?
[08:20:00]NEERA TANDEN, CO-CHAIR, CLINTON-KAINE TRANSITION PROJECT: You know, I actually urge every single American to listen to the entirety of the tape. I realize the leaked audio, I realized that it's really easy in this day and age to take a few sentences out of context, but I think the reality is if people listen to the entire tape, what Hillary was actually understand why young people are so frustrated with the political system. That was a key message in this and that's precisely why Senator Sanders himself yesterday said numerous times that she and he agree on that and that these -- he made a particular effort to say that there wasn't anything particularly controversial and they had a hard fought primary.
They had some disagreements. Hillary has after the primary worked with Senator Sanders on issues like college affordability. They've come up with a joint plan to ensure that there is affordable college, tuition free college for all middle-class families. It's a great compromise between the two of them.
So I think we can pick at this, but at a time when Donald Trump has problem after problem after problem at that same rally he discusses he had five vicious attacks, unfounded attacks. We can talk about this but in the context I think people realize and I, again, urge everyone to listen to the entirety of the tape, it's on the internet.
BERMAN: I agree 100 percent and Bernie Sanders did defend Hillary Clinton and the greater context of what she said, but when you're looking at the campaign right now, let me just remind you that if you look at some polling about how people under 35 view this race right now, yes, Hillary Clinton is leading 44 percent to 28 percent, but that's not by a lot by historical standards, right.
Barack Obama did much better against Mitt Romney than Hillary Clinton is doing right now. There is some softness with millennial voters and while Bernie Sanders did agree with the thrust of what Hillary Clinton was saying, she also on that tape called some of his views indefensible, and Bernie Sanders quite clearly made it clear made him a little bit uncomfortable.
Listen to what he told Jay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, of course it does. We're in the middle of a campaign and I, trust me, if you go to some of the statements that I made about Hillary Clinton, you can see real differences so we have differences. There's nothing to be surprised about. That's what a campaign is all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: How much does Hillary Clinton need Bernie Sanders? You're nodding your head but Bernie Sanders just said he was uncomfortable when Hillary Clinton called his views indefensible. He did say that.
TANDEN: I just listened to the same tape you did and he said one word about -- he spent his entire time explaining how they were in a primary at the time and they were disagreeing on issues. I think the important thing to note is that immediately after the primary efforts were made back and forth between the campaigns.
They worked together on issues from college affordability but obviously also a public option in health care. Bernie Sanders deeply influenced the Democratic primary process and the platform and Hillary took a lot of his ideas and they're working hand-in-hand.
I'm excited about the fact that Bernie Sanders is going out this week and campaigning for Hillary. He is a great messenger for her and he'll do a great job for her this weekend. He has a very clear message to millennials and all Americans.
So much is at stake in this e election whether it's addressing rising inequality, Citizens United, climate change, and issue after issue Hillary has been a strong champion.
Of course, it's on her to deliver that message as well as she did last week and is delivering this week. But, you know, I think on issue after issue as we get closer to this race, people are going to make decisions for themselves.
BERMAN: You brought up Donald Trump's speech Saturday night where he said a lot of stuff that people look at and say that's out there including some stuff that's, frankly, indefensible when he questioned Hillary Clinton's fidelity in her marriage. Let's listen to that quickly and then I have a question after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't even think she's loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth. And really, folks, really, why should she be, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Now look, that's indefensible. There's no basis for that comment. It is not what we've come to expect in a presidential candidate. Leave that where it is for a moment.
But the "New York Times" today has the story. The "Washington Post" had one last week, which looks at how Hillary Clinton in the '90s dealt with some of those who made accusations against Bill Clinton.
Whether it be Jennifer Flowers or others and there are critics of Hillary Clinton who say she basically attacked the accusers here. Hang on.
What I'm asking, is that a reasonable line of questioning right there? Is it fair to go back and question Hillary Clinton to talk about how she treated women under these circumstances?
TANDEN: Look, I urge people to, again, read these stories. "The New York Times" story today specifically says there's no evidence of what role Hillary played in the pushback on these stories.
[08:25:09]You know, I think people kind of recognize that maybe when a person is accused of having an affair with your husband, you're not going to be their biggest champion or fan. Having said that you know, I think people should look at Hillary's record on women's issues. She's been a strong champion. Look at who she is also running against and there's a story today in the AP, a bombshell story, of Donald Trump's actual treatment of women -- not his wife's treatment of women -- his treatment of women on "The Apprentice," how he made comments about them.
Numerous people say he was a sexual harasser. I think let's put this in context, and I think people can decide for themselves.
BERMAN: Neera Tanden, thanks for coming on. I appreciate you being here.
TANDEN: Thank you.
BERMAN: Alisyn.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: John, five weeks and one day now until the election. What will the October surprise be for both? And what is this bombshell about Donald Trump's taxes now do to his campaign? We have the bottom line for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: All right, "The New York Times" breaking the news this weekend that Donald Trump may not have paid federal income taxes for nearly two decades. In the past weeks, Donald Trump also had a lackluster debate performance, an ugly --
