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Donald Trump Holds Rally in Iowa; Donald Trump Answers Reporters' Questions in Iowa; Former Tennis Star Mistakenly Arrested; Voice Recognition System Examined. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired September 12, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: When they heard him talk about everything from Common Core to his immigration plan to saying nice doesn't get you anywhere. He knows a few, you know, tough people but he knows they're going to get things done.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes, there are a couple hundred people that turned out. I would say he got a pretty good reception. It's not like the roaring, enthusiastic crowds when he packed 10,000 people into an arena. But Iowa voters I think are very skeptical of when they see the candidates. They want to see him a couple of times. They want to see them talk about policy.

I would say the biggest reaction was when he was talking about illegal immigration, wanting to build a wall and wanting to deport everyone in the U.S. illegally. That is the kind of thing that really resonates with very conservative voters here in Iowa.

I think the other interesting thing is you heard him defend his faith, saying that Ben Carson, that that was an error. He believes heavily in the bible. That's really important in a place like Iowa where evangelical voters are still important if you're going to be the Republican winner of the caucuses here. They turn out reliably cycle after cycle. So he is sort of trying maintain his stronghold within the evangelical votes.

WHITFIELD: And so, Sara, your joining us from Miami. This is a lot more of the same kind of Donald Trump unscripted. He's very spontaneous. But clearly he had a mission up there. He had points that he wanted to make. And he did stick to that plan. And here's some more spontaneity of him shaking hands with people, singling out the vets in the crowd. What do you see in the way he is broadening his campaign? Are you seeing any real differences, or is his popularity growing because he is maintaining the same?

THARON JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, the one thing he did today, and it was a very entertaining speech and I think he's sort of self-proclaimed himself now as an entertainer, but I was very happy to hear him mention the middle class. I mean, this is the first time that he's really started talking about the middle class.

WHITFIELD: Tharon, I want to stop you right there because -- I want to stop you right there because I want to listen to what Donald Trump is saying right now. People are asking him questions. DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That will start weeding

out. But, no, I like that she's on the debate stage. As you know, I said she should --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Trump, do you think you're responsible for Rick Perry dropping out of the race?

TRUMP: I don't know. He's a nice man. I knew him before he went a little bit hostile. And he went hostile in order to try to get some traction. It didn't work. Actually so far it hasn't worked for anybody, if we know. And you understand that better than anybody. So far it hasn't worked for anybody. But he went very hostile. He's a nice man. I really knew him before the fact. And I wish him a lot of luck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think other candidates --

TRUMP: He is. He's a nice man. He's a capable guy. I don't know what's going to happen with other candidates.

(INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: Right. I don't think he has. And I have a big lead in Iowa. And I don't think he has. I think your statement is wrong. And I don't think he has. I'm not surprised that you make that statement because that's the way you do it. But I'm not -- I don't think he has. And I've actually been gaining -- a month ago in the last poll we were tied in Iowa. Now I'm much higher than he is. So I don't know how you say he's gaining.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said last time that you looking forward to the debate.

TRUMP: My whole life is a preparation for a debate. If you think about it, what's preparing for a debate? There are a million different things. My whole life is a preparation for a debate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said last night you were unhappy with the questions asked.

TRUMP: I thought they were very unfair questions. So did most people. And the nice part is that "TIME" magazine, Drudge, everybody that did the poll said I won the last debate. But despite that -- and I won easily. But despite that, I was asked very unfair questions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you want to talk about?

TRUMP: I want to talk about a lot of different things. They are so many things you can talk about. They can talk Obamacare. What we are really talking about, in opinion, security, the military, of which I really know a lot about.

I think one of the biggest surprises will be, if I win, how good I'll be at national security, how good I'll be at the border. I think it will be a big, big, big surprise for people. Everyone knows I'm going to be great with the economy. I'll be great with jobs. And I think there's nobody that disputes that, because if you look at the polls I'm up five, six, seven times from your polls. But I will tell you I think the big surprise is how good I would be with respect to the military, the vets, and national security.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're just saying that it was incredibly hard for Christian Syrians in this country, but Muslims, it's easy. What --

TRUMP: Much easier for a Muslim. If you're a Muslim from Syria, much easier to get in the United States than if you're a Christian. That comes from facts. Just study the facts, you'll see.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Scott Walker, what do you think about him?

TRUMP: I think Governor Walker is a nice man. I know it's a big up tumble. But he's certainly a nice man and I respect him and I like him.

(INAUDIBLE)

[14:05:02] TRUMP: His plan is largely dictated by what I've been saying, Katie. I mean, Jeb's plan, if you look at it, I'm the one talking about the hedge fund guys that are ripping everybody off with taxes. And I'm the one that said you have to do that.

Now, at the same time, I'm also the one that said I want to lower taxes for the middle class. And we have to do that. My plan, which is coming out in three of four weeks, is going to be much better than his plan, and we're going to have a major reduction. But the hedge fund guys are going to have to pay us, because they laugh all of the way to the bank. And, by the way, they're all supporting Jeb and Hillary. I have nobody supporting me because I don't need anybody's money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the biggest attacks you are expecting during the debate?

TRUMP: I have no idea. Really, I have no idea. I'll be attacked. I guess I'm going into a lion's den. Some people say I will be, some people say I won't. Somebody will attack. Somebody like a Rand Paul who is down two percent, he will maybe attack. He's been very nasty lately. He has been very nice, very nice, then all of a sudden about a week ago he started attacking because his poll numbers are down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might meet him in an hour or so?

TRUMP: I have nothing against him. Actually I supported him with his medical. Maybe that's what he should focus on is medical.

(INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: With who?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rand Paul said it's time to go to combat. TRUMP: He's a very ineffective guy. Rand is weak on immigration,

he's weak on the military. He's got no chance. He's down so low with his polls. He's got no chance.

But he was very nice to me, and all of a sudden a week-and-a-half, two weeks ago he started attacking me just like Perry did, just like Senator Lindsey Graham did, down to almost zero. They all attack me, and so far everybody that's attacked me, including Jeb Bush -- I mean, Jeb Bush when he started was at 18 percent. Now he's at seven and eight. I don't know if that's because of me, but it certainly seems to be unlucky to attack me.

(INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP: I think they're going to do it. Look, they raised a lot of money. The money has been given by hedge fund people, given by special interests. All of these people, they don't want to see Trump because they don't care about the country. They care about themselves. I care about the country. I don't have any of their money and, by the way, I could have so much. I could have hundreds of millions of dollars of special interest and lobbyist money within two weeks if I wanted it. I don't want it. I don't need it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your take from the Iowa Quinnipiac poll showing you and Carson running one, two? What does that say about --

TRUMP: It says pretty much it says they're looking for an outsider. It does say that. There's no question about it. OK? Thank you. Goodbye, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Donald Trump there in a gaggle of reporters saying that, hey, he is appealing to people and people like the fact that he doesn't need anybody else's money.

He talked about a lot of things there, not just on stage in Boone, Iowa, but also there in front of reporters. Answering the question, he's not preparing for the upcoming debate in four days because he says "My entire life is preparation for debate." Also promising that in three to four weeks he will be releasing details of his tax plan.

And we heard something very unusual. He's using the word "nice" as though it's a criticism saying that, yes, Ben Carson is nice, Jeb Bush, very nice, but he says nice is not necessary to be president in the White House.

All right, so let's pick up where we left off in my conversation with Tharon Johnson and Jackie Gingrich Cushman. Jackie, you first. This is interesting because he says nice is not a good quality. He's hurling insults without using nasty language.

JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Absolutely. I think the fact he talks about other candidates attacking them when really he's been attacking other candidates. He's talking about Jeb Bush's low energy and how people don't know anything. And then he's like, oh, they're trying to attack me.

But part of it, as you and I talked about off camera, is that he has his own persona, he's always aggressive, always on the attack, that's him. When other candidates try to do that, it doesn't wear well with them. It's not part of who they are.

So I think it's going to be very interesting. He's right, Rand Paul did not do well in the last debate because he tried to attack Trump, he tried to get in front of him and tried to have a mix-up and it came across very badly. That's part of why he's fallen in the polls. But the candidates have to be careful about how they approach him.

WHITFIELD: Tharon, what did you hear in that exchange that he had with reporters? He is trying to stick to point, saying he's got a plan, upcoming three of four weeks. At the same time, you know, he doesn't hesitate to bring the other candidates in to the equation.

JOHNSON: Well, Fred, I lost count on how many times Donald used the word "nice." This is really the nicest I've actually seen him on the entire campaign.

Look, I think what he's doing is -- and he also mentioned the word "middle class" twice. I haven't heard that in a very long time for Donald Trump or any Republican candidate. But I think what he's doing is that he's sort of setting the stage leading up to the debate. I think you heard him mention his tax plan. You heard him really talk about immigration.

But the thing that he's also doing I think is very interesting, he's specifically talking about Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

[14:10:04] These are two people who he sort of have been on the attack with. So what's going to be interesting in the debate is will Ben and Carly attack him because he's baiting them to get in a strong debate. And so I think it's going to be very interesting.

WHITFIELD: He's at the center. In terms of seating or standing position at the debate, he is both, you know, symbolically, metaphorically, literally he is at the center of this debate. At the same time, these other candidates have a lot to lose. You know, they're very far down in the polls. They have really got to, don't they, avoid, you know, taking the bait and getting into just a food fight here and really bringing some substance to the table no matter what Donald Trump does?

CUSHMAN: Absolutely. And I think because you have Jake Tapper and Hugh Hewitt who are going to be there asking the questions. Hugh Hewitt had an interview I think last week with Trump and with Carly Fiorina. Trump did not do well. Blamed it on gotcha questions, which I don't think they were. I thought they were very good questions. Carly did a great job answering the questions.

So I think if they stay on step, and I think Carly will. I think she has been through enough now. She did very well in the first debate. She got to move up. She's very strong on national security. She could do very well. But if you look at the stage, it's going to be Trump, and between Carson and Bush. So it will be fascinating to watch the body language of those guys and see how they react to each other, because he's be on Jeb about being low energy. The interesting dynamics if Jeb tries to do something different to show that he's different than what Trump said he is.

WHITFIELD: I always love watching the body language at the end of the debate when everyone is in kind of a free-for-all and people just start mingling. Are they going to shake hands, do they dismiss each other? It's all going to be fascinating. All right, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, thanks so much, Tharon Johnson, appreciate that from you as well from Miami. All right, appreciate it, guys.

So be sure to tune in to the next Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN Wednesday, September 16th, starting at 6:00 p.m. eastern. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:50] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. If you've been watching you saw Donald Trump who was talking to a fairly sizable crowd there in Boone, Iowa today at a big rally. And you see him there still shaking hands and just moments ago talking to reporters, saying that life is a preparation. He doesn't need to prepare for the debate in four days.

CNN's political reporter Sara Murray is covering Trump for us. She's on the phone with us right now. So, Sara, give us an idea what the reaction was like in the crowd there. He said, you know, he's going to be releasing a tax plan in about three to four weeks. He used the word "nice" as though it's a criticism, talking about some of the other contenders, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, being too nice, and nice is just not what cuts it in the White House.

MURRAY: Yes, he definitely had his fair share of criticism. We heard that more when he was talking to reporters. He was talking about how nasty Rand Paul has gotten lately and made a point of saying that people like Jeb Bush, people like Lindsey Graham, and even people like rick Perry who have attacked him in the past later fall down in the polls, and Rick Perry is now out of the race.

You know, I think the crowd here in Iowa, a number of the voters that I talked to just want to see him up close. They wanted to see the Trump show in person. They don't necessarily know who they're voting for. And for his part, you know, Trump gave his speech and worked his way down the line signing baseballs for folks, taking selfies. All in all I think he got a pretty warm reception here in Iowa.

WHITFIELD: And of course that was expected. It was an announced rally and he is now going to be making his way, is that correct, to Ames, for a tailgate party?

MURRAY: That's correct. It's going to be a big crowded tailgate. This is a big deal here in Iowa today, big football rivalry going on. Donald Trump will be there as well as Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and Rand Paul. So it should be interesting mix. WHITFIELD: All right, four Republican candidates there in Iowa today.

Thanks so much, Sara Murray, appreciate it. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:21:23] WHITFIELD: All right, former tennis star James Blake just told CNN that he is undecided whether he will file suit against the city of New York. Blake was wrongfully arrested and tackled this week in what police are calling a sting operation gone wrong. CNN's Don Lemon sat down with James Blake today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You got an apology from the police commissioner, from the highest, police commissioner, from the mayor of the city. Not everybody, imagine the people that this happens to, and we know it does happen to other people. They don't get that.

JAMES BLAKE, FORMER TENNIS STAR: Yes, and I respect that gesture. I appreciate it. It's very nice of them. It's really nice to get a call from the mayor of New York City on your cellphone looking to apologize to you. It's really nice.

But this guy has five civilian complaints as well. I'm sure those people that have complained against him haven't gotten that same call. And I think there needs to be an active apology to all those people that don't have the stature I have, that don't have the voice I have. And that's why I feel like this is so necessary for me to talk about, because I have this voice and so many people that this happens to, they don't get that. And I've gotten e-mails and texts that told me this happened to me, this is also happened to my friend, this happened to my father, this happened to my brother. And none of them get pub apologies like that. They all deserve to get the same treatment I'm getting.

LEMON: You said, sort of the sense of what you're saying, you said "I'm determined to use my voice to turn this unfortunate incident into a catalyst for change in the relationship between the police and the public they serve." If that is not through a lawsuit, or maybe it is, how does that work?

BLAKE: Like I said, I want to see change. I want to see this not happen. That was my first reaction once I realized that I needed to speak up about this is I can't imagine this happening to someone I care about and I don't want to go through this again. I don't want to go through it personally and I don't want to go through it and see it happen to anyone around me. And I know there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way. So we need to find a way to stop this from happening.

I'm sure it won't be overnight. I'm sure tomorrow this is going to happen somewhere. And I don't want that to be the case. And I don't want it to be swept under the rug and said, it happens once in a while but we're going to move past it with a one time. I don't want a lawsuit who says here's $5 million, go away, and we're not going to talk about this again. I want to keep talking about this. I want to open a dialogue with Commissioner Bratton, with Mayor de Blasio, about real solutions, about accountability, about making sure that this isn't going to happen and these types of police officers are no longer able to do this.

LEMON: What do you say to that officer if he's sitting right here where I am?

BLAKE: First thing I would say is you took advantage of me in a very vulnerable situation, and in doing so you hurt my family. And I want him to know that this isn't just hurting me, and every time he's done this or would do this, it hurts a whole family. And that's not fair. That's not fair to use your badge to do that, because you've got that badge and you're supposed to treat that with respect and with honor the way we're supposed to respect and honor it. And I don't think he deserves -- I would say to him that I don't think he deserves to ever have that badge again.

LEMON: You think he should lose his job?

BLAKE: I do think he should lose his job over this because I don't think this is the job for him. For him to have that kind of agenda, to take that kind of tone and that kind of an attitude towards this situation, a nonviolent criminal, if I had been the criminal I still think this is excessive and it shouldn't have happened the way it did. And I just don't think that's the right position for him to be in. He's abusing that power that he has.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, James Blake today with our Don Lemon. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[14:28:47] SAMUEL BURKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So NICE is a voice recognition company, and companies are already using your software to make sure that it's really us when we're calling. Can we do a little test? Walk me through how this would work if I were calling my bank right now.

Hi, this is Samuel Burke. I'm just having a problem right now. I'm traveling abroad, and I forgot the call you guys to let you know I was going to be outside the U.S. And I just tried to use my credit card at a restaurant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good to go.

BURKE: So what is all that showing us up there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Within six seconds it had sufficient information related to your voice to be able to make a determination. It popped up a message to the rep saying you're good to go.

BURKE: Talk me through how this works. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So really our voices as unique or more unique

than our fingerprints. Our voices have specific characteristics. And there's over 100 of them. Financial institutions are actually required by law to record all of their conversations. And so what voice biometrics does is takes a recording and it can create from that a voice print. And then we can compare the new voice against the voice print that we have on file.

BURKE: So can we try this now with my brother. My mom and dad can't tell our voices apart. I want to see if your system with tell us apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Samuel Burke. I'm a longtime customer of the bank.

[14:30:00] I'm interested in transferring $1,000 into a new account.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nope. He doesn't cross the threshold.

BURKE: So your system is better than my mom and my dad.

If these files are stolen one day with our voices, could that wreak havoc then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it doesn't actually have any audio. It's just the characteristics. The voice point in and of itself doesn't actually have any audio. It's just the characteristics. A voice print doesn't have anything in it that says it's connected to a particular customer.

WHITFIELD: All right, the power of the voice.

Thanks so much for spending your day with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Vital Signs" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.