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Zika Fears; Ryan Lochte Controversy; Trump Campaign Chairman Resigns. Aired 15-15:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:30]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And we continue on this Friday afternoon. I'm Brooke Baldwin, and you are watching CNN. Thanks for being here.

After certainly a week of some ups and downs, campaign changes for Donald Trump, campaign chair Paul Manafort makes it official, he is out. And now all eyes are on the team's new hire, Breitbart news executive Steve Bannon.

Meantime, Donald Trump himself is using a word we have not heard in his campaign speeches thus far, that word being regret.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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.

Believe it or not, I regret it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This coming from a man who is notoriously unapologetic. Here he was just three months ago with Megyn Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: To look back and say, gee whiz, I wish I didn't do this or that, I don't think that's good. I don't even think -- in a certain way, I don't even think that's healthy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, fast-forward to now, 81 days, count with me, 81 days until Election Day. Will we see more of that Trump or more of this Trump looking more presidential here when you think of the optics of this, handing out supplies, giving all these donations there to the good folks of Louisiana who have really been hurt hard by all of the flooding?

He donated an entire 18-wheeler of relief supplies, as we saw from our correspondent down there just a bit ago. His running mate, Mike Pence, also with him by his side visiting Louisiana.

By the way, Trump is also holding a rally in Dimondale, Michigan, later today.

And that is where we have our correspondent Jessica Schneider.

So, Jessica, on the Paul Manafort news and his resignation, the question is why.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Donald Trump not exactly saying why. But we are hearing from campaign sources, campaign sources telling CNN's Dana Bash that Paul Manafort believed in the last few days, especially with the reports earlier this week about that Ukraine anti-corruption investigation into him, he's told Donald Trump that he had basically become a distraction and he wanted to end that, resulting in the resignation of Paul Manafort today.

Donald Trump himself not speaking about it, but issuing a statement. He released it this morning just after the news came out that Paul Manafort had resigned. He said this: "This morning, Paul Manafort, and I accepted, his resignation from the campaign. I am very appreciative for his great work in helping us get where we are today and in particular his work guiding us through the delegate and convention process. Paul is a true professional and I wish him the greatest of success," but, of course, no mention in that statement about the recent distractions involving Paul Manafort, that investigation over in Ukraine, as to whether or not he accepted millions of dollars in cash payments from the pro-Russian government over there in the mid to early 2000s, so no reference to that in Donald Trump's statement.

But Hillary Clinton's campaign is pouncing on this resignation, saying in fact that the resignation itself is an admission of the ties between Russia and the Trump team and using some very flowery language in addition, saying that this also just proves and further solidifies what they're calling the bromance between Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jessica Schneider, thank you so much, that rally happening in just a bit there in Michigan.

Meantime, let's talk all of this over and more with CNN political commentator Patti Solis Doyle, used to serve as campaign manager for Hillary Clinton. CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott is back with us today, and Amy Kremer, co-chair of Women Vote Trump.

So, welcome, welcome to all of you.

Amy, let me just begin from you.

I have heard from Trump surrogates saying, hey, this Manafort move makes sense because it just represents different phases of a campaign. My question to you would be, if Mr. Trump were to be elected into the White House and he is in the Oval Office, the rate of hiring and firing three people in four months, I don't think you can really do that.

AMY KREMER, CO-CHAIR, WOMEN VOTE TRUMP: Well, Brooke, I would say, look, at least Mr. Trump sees that when something is not working, you have to change it. And I think that's what he's done here.

It's similar to baseball. You have your starting pitcher, your middle reliever, and then your closer. So Paul Manafort came in to get through the convention and to rein in the delegates and get them on team Trump. He did that. Now we're going in to the homestretch.

[15:05:00]

And, look. Mr. Trump has an issue, the messaging and women. That's where his weakness is. He's brought in Kellyanne Conway, who specializes in messaging, and focuses on women as well. I think we are already starting the see the impact that she's having on his campaign and on him as a candidate.

I think we saw that last night. I think she's here to help him close it out and to bring this home and take it to the White House.

BALDWIN: No, and we will talk about him in Louisiana today, and we I think all give him credit for bringing the cameras and the spotlight to those in need.

But, Patti Solis Doyle, as a former campaign manager, going with her baseball analogy, how does that sit with you?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, Paul Manafort was released of his duties because things were not going well. Right? Because there's no ground game. The polls are in the tanker.

He -- Donald Trump cannot stay on message. And even his -- quote, unquote -- "resignation" was handled poorly. Two days ago, they were saying -- Trump campaign was saying that this was not a shakeup, that this was in fact an expansion. Two days later, he's out the door.

On the day that we should be talking about Trump's speech and his visit to Louisiana, we're talking about Paul Manafort. So I think that the Trump campaign still has a lot of tweaks that they need to do to make...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And 81 days to go.

SOLIS DOYLE: And 81 days to go.

BALDWIN: Amy, this is sort of closing argument time.

And, Eugene, I'm going to come to you in a second.

But, Amy, to you. To go to, again, a man who is notoriously unapologetic, but his message of regrets last night that has been hailed by many, the question is, what exactly is he expressing regret for?

KREMER: Well, I think he said it. When he said when it caused any personal pain. And I think that he realizes that he probably has caused pain to some people and some of his comments. And I commend him for stepping up and saying that.

Brooke, I think we all could agree that it is very rare we see people, politicians go back and admit their mistakes or say they were wrong. And although Donald Trump is not your politician, not your typical politician certainly, at least he is willing to admit here he has caused personal pain. And I think that that is a step in the right direction.

I think with Kellyanne there, we will see them finesse how he messages things. I think he's always been on message. It is the message that people want to hear. But it is how he delivers those messages, the message, and I think that that's what we're going to see going forward. I think it is really important that we do that.

But, look, we're talking about Donald Trump and Paul Manafort. Where's Hillary Clinton? We haven't seen her in a couple days now. Where is she weekend? Is she taking another weekend off? Because the presidency is not a part-time job. And out of the first 14 days of August, she only worked seven of 14 days.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We will get to Hillary Clinton in a second. I know she met with the nation's top cops yesterday. I know Donald Trump was out in North Carolina meeting with the Fraternal Order of Police. And I know -- I think she's getting her intelligence briefing in the next couple of days.

But to your point and also as it pertains to Louisiana, trust me, we will come back to it.

But, Eugene, on the changing of the top brass within the Trump campaign, all sort of coinciding with his message of regret last night, CNN politic and you all have been reporting on Steve Bannon, the new chief and Kellyanne Conway, as Amy was mentioning. Whose fingerprints do you think were all over that message of regret?

EUGENE SCOTT, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Well, consensus generally is that it was probably Kellyanne. And she was on "NEW DAY" yesterday on CNN saying that this is the direction Donald Trump would move into.

And it's interesting so many are looking at it as a bit of a change, but this is who his supporters and his campaign staff say he really is. He just has not done the best job of consistently showing it from this -- in the past. So it will be interesting to see if he is able to maintain this, stay on message, make regret statements, pass out supplies to victims of flooding. We will see how long this lasts and if there will be an impact in the polls.

BALDWIN: On the flooding -- and, guys, let's show the pictures of Mr. Trump on the ground with his running mate, Mike Pence, donating this -- here it is, items being passed out from this 18-wheeler. The optics of this, Eugene?

SCOTT: Well, it is a surprise. I don't think many people thought this is where this week would have ended based on where it started. He was getting a lot of criticism for a speech that he said was meant to reach out to black voters that he wasn't winning.

And here he is working with this community, showing himself to be a very service-oriented person, someone whose donations to nonprofits are still very much in question. It will be interesting to see if this is a new Trump that we consistently see and whether or not people begin to have a different perspective of what he is about at the end of the day.

BALDWIN: You see these pictures. And, then, Patti, I just have to ask the question I know Amy was itching to ask a second ago, which is where is Hillary Clinton?

SOLIS DOYLE: Look, I agree. I agree this was a great thing for Donald Trump to do. I think he deserves a lot of credit for being there and bringing attention to Louisiana and donating. So I don't have anything negative to say about that.

[15:10:12]

I think Hillary Clinton, there are two things that are very valuable in a campaign, time and resources. I think Hillary Clinton is spending her time very wisely. She's got the luxury of having a slew of high-level surrogates that she can dispatch all over the battleground states.

That gives her the opportunity to with a precision knife go to places where she needs to go to, to prepare for the debates, raise money, do things that only she can do. That's what she's doing. I think she's running a very smart campaign.

KREMER: Patti, you can't -- when you are president, you can't dispatch somebody else to go be president. This is a time where she needs to be out here talking to the American people, letting us know what she thinks and how this should be handled and so on and so forth. And she's gone, she's nowhere to be seen. Where is she?

(CROSSTALK)

SOLIS DOYLE: No, she is not gone. She was out campaigning all week. She was campaigning in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She was campaigning in Philly.

(CROSSTALK)

KREMER: It is not a part-time job. As president, you don't get to work four on/three off. That's not the way the presidency works.

(CROSSTALK)

KREMER: That is what she's been doing.

SOLIS DOYLE: Well, that's wrong.

MATTHEWS: OK. We will agree to disagree on that one. I hear you.

Between the ladies and Eugene, thank you so much, Eugene Scott, Patti Solis Doyle, and Amy Kremer. Thank you very much.

Still ahead, Ryan Lochte, he is now saying he is sorry for not being more "careful and candid" in how he described the fateful night with three of his teammates. Is that enough? What about his future? What about the million dollars in sponsorships? We're going to go there.

Also, new Zika concerns, the CDC warning pregnant women and their partners to consider avoiding a major U.S. city.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:00]

BALDWIN: U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte has now apologized for not being more careful in describing the events that he originally dubbed a robbery.

The second-most -- easy for me to say -- decorated swimmer behind Michael Phelps issuing a mea culpa on Twitter. The apology comes one day after Brazilian police accused Lochte and his three teammates of vandalizing a gas station bathroom and urinating on the property.

The one thing Lochte and police agree on, the fact that there was a gun and cash exchanging hands. But they appear to differ on whether that but equates to a robbery.

That fallout here, seeing his name dragged through the tabloids. But let's be clear, this isn't the first time Lochte has had a less-than- desirable media coverage here.

CNN's Miguel Marquez takes a look back at the highs and the lows of Ryan Lochte's rise to fame.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN LOCHTE, U.S. OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Hi, I'm Ryan Lochte.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twelve-time Olympic medalist, including six gold. He holds world records in 200- and 400- meter individual medleys, a four-time Olympian, bursting into stardom after winning five of his 12 medals in the 2012 London Games.

LOCHTE: I'm not the one to really get sentimental or get all teary- eyed. But when that national anthem was being played and our flag was being raised, I just remember all those hours that I -- all that hard work and dedication that I put in to the sport and it's like finally paying off and like my dreams are coming true.

MARQUEZ: Lochte's dreams built on a foundation of swimming and charisma.

LOCHTE: Being called one of the sexiest men alive is definitely an honor. MARQUEZ: Runner-up in "People" magazine's sexiest man in 2012,

Lochte's millions of social media followers, bad boy antics and boyish charm put him squarely in the public eye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lochte for president.

MARQUEZ: The much-hyped reality show "What Would Ryan Lochte Do?" sank after eight episodes in 2013. His clothing line also never took off and his acting played mainly on his public persona.

LOCHTE: Another old guy wanting to buy my shirt. Old guys are so funny.

MARQUEZ: In "30 Rock," he played himself.

LOCHTE: My character on 30 rock is the sex idiot. I get to play myself. I get to just play Ryan Lochte. It's not too much acting that I have to do, so that's pretty good.

MARQUEZ: His swimming career starting when he was 8, named NCAA All- American 24 times at University of Florida and a seven-time SEC champ. He also had run-ins there that echo today. In 2005, two incidents reported by university police, one for trespassing, the second time for urinating in public.

In 2010, two years after graduating, university police cited Lochte for disorderly conduct, fighting in public.

LOCHTE: I could be having the worst day of my life. But as soon as I step foot in that water, everything just disappears.

MARQUEZ: Sponsorships by Ralph Lauren, Speedo and Airweave now at stake. Over the years those and many others adding up to millions of dollars. Lochte says he wants to compete in Tokyo 2020, but this incident could end the career of a guy known for cutting up. Remember the American flag mouth grill in 2012, and, of course, that blondish- greenish-bluish hair this year?

LOCHTE: When you think about America, you think about hot dogs. Guess what? Ryan Lochte has got his own hot dog.

MARQUEZ: But has the 32-year-old with a killer backstroke finally bit off more than he can chew? A night out drinking, partying and troublemaking could topple an athlete otherwise on top of the world.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right. There is the backdrop for Ryan Lochte.

Let's get to the legal fallout now. I have attorney AnneElise Goetz.

AnneElise, nice to have you on.

[15:20:03] ANNEELISE GOETZ, ATTORNEY: Hi, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, let me begin actually not with Ryan Lochte, but with one of the other swimmers, James Feigen.

James Feigen's lawyer, we know, has reportedly negotiated some $11,000 to pay to get his passport back. Apparently, the $11,000 is going to a charity in Brazil. Does that strike you as odd?

GOETZ: Yes. Yes.

I mean, in what kind of international negotiation are paying money to a charity in order to have return of a passport? I think a lot of it is a little bit bizarre, and it plays in to the publicity that we're seeing in this incident, as opposed to what legally probably should be occurring.

BALDWIN: Do you think that Brazilian prosecutors will pursue this any further or will everyone now that there's been a mea culpa and accepted, this is over?

GOETZ: I think all they were really looking for was the big apology.

I don't know if the got the big apology, but they probably got enough so they look better. And, no, I can't imagine them pressing charges on this, because they're starting to let the individuals go home. And to extradite over what essentially is misleading police, maybe an inaccurate affidavit, some small vandalism, there is no way they are going to get extradition over that.

Once they let them go, they kind of played their hand at that point in time.

BALDWIN: There was this other layer that came out today that apparently Olympic officials were saying to Brazilian authorities, please, sort of suppress this information, this news about Ryan Lochte and these swimmers, though the IOC, the Olympic investigation folks were saying no, not at all, that didn't happen.

How does all this media attention -- AnneElise, we're talking days and days -- help or hurt a client's case?

GOETZ: You know, it's not good because it's all been so negative.

Assuming that your client would be the four swimmers, it's not because it's all so negative. Their stories are changing consistently and it's become much more of the drama than it has a legal case. And so when you are locked up abroad, when you do have an international incident, sometimes to bring a lot of media attention is to your advantage because you have been what you perceived wronged by this other country's judicial system.

In this case, they came on the attack against Brazil, against Rio, with what appears to be a fabricated story. So all the media attention is not good for them. What they want to do and what Ryan should do is just stop talking and let his teammates come home. BALDWIN: Right. Right. Well, it sounds like they are home now.

They weren't locked up, but I hear you generally speaking in terms of being in trouble abroad.

AnneElise Goetz, thank you so much for joining me.

Coming up next here: A new photo emerges of that 5-year-old Syrian boy who captured the world's attention after he was rescued from an airstrike. We will talk about how his story could impact the debate over accepting Syrian refugees right here in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:28]

BALDWIN: Today, the Obama administration announced it will surpass its goal to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees this year. This news today comes as the world is refocusing its attention on the humanitarian crisis there after this one photo of this little boy has been shared around the world landing on front pages of newspapers around the globe.

If you have not seen it yet, this is Omran, 5 years of age. This photo was taken after his family's home in Aleppo was hit in the dark of night by an airstrike.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir talked to a cameraman with the Aleppo Media Center who recorded Omran's rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We go to a place that has been bombed, raging planes circle around and bomb it again to kill rescue workers that are helping civilians. They kill these people who were trying to rescue people.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is, of course, daily reality for you in Aleppo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We live these moments every day in Aleppo. Right now, regime planes are shelling nearby as I speak. The whole world is silent to these crimes in Aleppo against women and children. There are thousands of children like Omran who are being bombed daily, killed daily. Everyone just accepts that our families are being bombed, that our homes are being destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now we have an update for you. As you can see, this is a photo just released a couple of hours ago of little Omran after he was treated. His parents and siblings also survived the attack.

Let me bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. The question, as you are just gripped by this photo of this child, do you think the sympathy from those around the world and especially here in the United States will help President Obama's case for bringing in more refugees?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think most of the relief groups working in this area in Syria would say thank you for your sympathy, but we need action.

Bringing the refugees to the United States, that is one part -- pardon me -- and bringing them into Europe, that's just one part of what is needed. But, really, the crisis, the disaster right now in Aleppo isn't solved by the months that it may take to get additional refugees out of there.

It is about getting humanitarian relief supplies into Aleppo, into Idlib, into these areas where both Syrian regime and Russian forces are continuing to bomb every day. And why is the humanitarian relief not getting in? Because the aid agencies don't have the confidence they need, that they must have that their convoys will be safe enough to even