Return to Transcripts main page

LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Trump Immigration Address; Weiner and Abedin Separating; Dwyane Wade's Cousin Murdered. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired August 29, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


[12:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome to LEGAL VIEW.

Seventy-one days before the election, Donald Trump is promising details - details on that signature policy. Just two days away, apparently, from getting those details in the GOP candidate's on again, off again major address on immigration is on again. So set your calendars, set your alarms, Wednesday in Arizona. That's he when we find out where he stands definitively. Well, let's hope we do. And no need to worry about turnout because even before the venue was set, Donald Trump is reporting big crowds.

Today, both Trump and Hillary Clinton are out of sight. They are both raising money, but on opposite ends of the country. And my CNN colleague Jason Carroll is at work trying to find out what's next from the Trump camp. He's at Trump Tower.

So about this immigration speech. I was so excited for it last week and I was told, put the brakes on, it's going to come next week. So here we are, we're in next week. Do we have any clues as to what's going to be said?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think it's very clear, based on what Donald Trump has said in the past and just recently, that he made mention of once he becomes president, he said that the bad guys would be out of office within an hour - out of office - out of the country within an hour. Of course he's referring to these undocumented people living in the United States accused of crimes.

So one would - it would stand to reason that that would be part of his immigration plan, but we're still waiting, and waiting, and waiting. And as you know, Ashleigh, his critics have been really on Trump on the issue, saying that he's been flip-flopping on the issue and they're looking for specifics. What specifically is going to happen to the 11 million or so undocumented people living here in the United States? Will there be some sort of deportation force that's put into place to move these people out of the country? These are some of the specifics that folks are looking for. Mike Pence offered his take on Trump's stance on "State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First off, let's be very clear, nothing has changed about Donald Trump's position. I think at a certain level it's very refreshing because it's the Donald Trump that I see every day, is you see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people. He's hearing from all sides. But I promise you, he is a decisive leader. He will stand on the principles that have underpinned his commitment to end illegal immigration in this country, and that's what people will learn more about in the days ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: OK, if you listen very closely to that, Ashleigh, you'll - you will not hear any specifics even in Pence's answer. So, once again, looking for specifics, what happens to the undocumented, the 11 million or so? Kelly Conway, his campaign manager, weighing in on the issue, basically saying that there has not been a, quote, "softening on approach." There will be a softening on approach perhaps, but not a softening on policy. So a lot of the surrogates are out there parsing the words still looking for specifics. Hopefully they're on their way.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Yes, I'm getting so frustrated with the hardening and then the softening, or the other way around, the softening and the - whatever. OK, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt, Jason, and I will wait for Wednesday. I'm very excited about this because I cannot wait to get the clarity. Jason Carroll out in front of Trump Tower for us, thank you.

Donald Trump has just made his biggest TV ad buy to date, by the way. Ten million big ones. $10 million worth of airtime. Nine different states are going to get that money. The spot is called "Two Americas" and it claims that Hillary Clinton would bring economic misery, but that Trump would make the American dream, and I will quote, "achievable."

Joining me now to talk about that and much more, CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor of "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich, and HLN contributor and politics editor of theroot.com, Jason Johnson.

Welcome to all three of you.

Jason, I'm going to begin with you.

So there's a big visit coming this weekend in Detroit, a black Christian network, Donald Trump saying this is my moment to be in front of black voters with my message to minority voters. Is this a game changer or is this a publicity stunt?

JASON JOHNSON, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: It's both, as are most things with the Trump campaign, Ashleigh. You know, honestly, I think if Donald Trump really wanted to make a point and speaking to African-American voters, rather than going to a church in Detroit, he should actually go speak to the NAACP. I mean George Bush did that at one point. Mitt Romney did that at one point. John McCain did that in Cincinnati. So I think this is part of this sort of attempt to reach out it to African- American voters, but the fact of the matter is, you should speak to a political organization, not a church where they're going to politely clap. Be at a place where you can actually answer some questions and show that you're sincere about policy.

BANFIELD: And, by the way, I tend to think that all, you know, campaign events are publicity stunts and game changers, too. It doesn't just mean it's a - you know, the purview of the - of the Trump campaign.

Ron Brownstein, I want to talk a little bit more about that immigration story that Jason Carroll was reporting on.

[12:05:04] RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BANFIELD: I have asked this question over and over again, and I don't know if I'm getting to the bottom of it, but I do wonder if the - the folks that stood by Donald Trump when he said get them all out of here and they loved it, they wanted every one of those 11 million undocumented workers out because they believe that to be criminal. which means, if you want the criminal undocumented workers out, they're all criminal, they all got to go. So if he is softening on that and he does actually change things and lose some of those supporters, will that make a difference? Will he be able to win over more people than he'll lose?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, first of all, let's underscore - let's quantify how important those voters were to him. I have a story up today on "The Atlantic." In most states, even the Republican primary, most people supported some kind of legal status for the undocumented. And Donald Trump at best ran even among those who supported legal status and in most of the key early primaries actually - he actually lost the majority of voters who supported some kind of legal status. He won those key early states, whether it was South Carolina or Virginia or Georgia or North Carolina or Illinois or Michigan, because he had huge margins among the minority of Republican voters who supported deportation. So he is going against a core promise of his primary campaign.

I quote some aides to other advisors - other campaigns who argue that he might not have been the nominee if he had a position that he seemed to be floating in the last few days on immigration because he would not have been as differentiated as he was from the other candidates. Now the question really is, I don't think those voters are going to Hillary Clinton. The question is whether he can generate the massive turnout he is looking for among them.

And one other point, by the way, relevant to the post-election. Even Donald Trump, who is the hard-liners' hard-liner decides that mass deportation is not a viable general election strategy, will that affect the way the Republican Party in Congress deals with this issue after the election regardless of who wins?

BANFIELD: The Trump effect, so to speak.

All right, hold that thought for a second. I want to touch on something else, and that is the money, Jackie, if you could. The $10 million that are set for nine different states. They do include the battleground states, so I don't think that's surprising for anybody. But what might be surprising is that Donald Trump himself is holding a rally in Washington state. Every time I've seen Washington state, it's pretty darn blue on the map. And we are 71 days away until election time. I'm just trying to get an idea of how - typically how campaigns work this close to the election when you're dealing with swing states where you're really suffering, as opposed to blue states where you really would have to work miracles to turn them.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You're not alone in terms of having a little bit of consternation about the Donald Trump schedule. And I think you hear that particularly from Republicans who were sort of hoping - hoping that he would start acting like a normal presidential candidate. But it's not only blue states, like Washington, he was holding rallies in places like Texas, which is a red state. So it just - and in the bluest bastion of one in Austin last week. So it really has this unorthodox feel to it and it continues and it doesn't seem like we're not that far away, as you said. And I think if anyone was hoping that this campaign would start running, like we've seen them in the past, it's not going to happen and we should all just hold on and see what he does next.

BANFIELD: All right, I'm going to - I'm going to turn to another news item that we reported pretty extensively here at CNN and if you were just watching at this hour, it was just a heart-wrenching interview with a crime victim's mother. It's Dwyane Wade's cousin who was shot dead. A mother of four. Shot dead by a stray bullet while she was walking her newborn baby.

Donald Trump has taken some heat by sending out a political tweet about this on the weekend. He said "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying, African-Americans will vote Trump." And he originally misspelled Dwyane Wade's name, and then deleted it and sent it out with a better spelling. He tweeted condolences later, guys, but then this morning he seemed back on the same theme by saying, "African-Americans will vote for Trump because they know I will stop the slaughter going on."

Jason, this has been something that a lot of African-Americans have spoken out about saying, please stop talking about African-Americans only in the vein of the slaughter in Chicago and death and destruction, et cetera. But will it resonate maybe with other voters?

JOHNSON: I mean it can but, Ashleigh, think of it like this. If Trump sent out a tweet this morning saying, you know, just as I predicted, Huma Abedin's marriage was messed up by Anthony Weiner's behavior, women will vote for Trump because Hillary didn't stop it, that wouldn't work with women voters, right? People would say that was tacky and rude and inappropriate. And that's the same feeling that African-Americans have about what Trump is saying. And if there's this idea that supposedly his empathy is going to appeal to white, moderate and swing voters, that's not going to work. I mean most political science will tell you that if you're a conservative and you're trying to actually get white moderates to consider you, you have to have policy, you have to have imagery of (INAUDIBLE) African-American voters and saying that you care about the slain cousin of an NBA star is not the kind of thing that's going to ingratiate you to anybody. It's actually kind of gosh and tacky.

[12:10:17] BANFIELD: But I will say this, I think you - I'll only correct you in that I think some women out there actually would -

JOHNSON: Yes.

BANFIELD: Be OK with that kind of a Trump - and I'm dying to find out if Trump is going to react to the - to the Huma Abedin and Anthony Weiner split. He's had lots to say about Anthony Weiner and his connection, obviously, through Huma to Hillary Clinton. We're going to talk a little bit about that in a moment.

But for now, the three of you, thank you so much. Jackie Kucinich, Ron Brownstein, and Jason Johnson, really appreciate it. Thanks, guys.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

KUCINICH: Thanks.

BANFIELD: Just ahead, we just mentioned it, he married Hillary Clinton's closest adviser. That's the guy. You keep hearing about him and not in a good way. Anthony Weiner, married to Huma Abedin. And now they've just announced they are separating. All of this after an alleged exchange that he had with a Donald Trump supporter. The new sexting allegations that could end his marriage and certainly brought their child into the story. It is awful and it is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:15:08] BANFIELD: So the breaking news, it's - it's usually news that wouldn't be sort of top and central, but this time it is. Anthony Weiner is separating from his wife, Huma Abedin. So this is big because he's a former congressman. And he's reportedly embroiled in a brand-new sexting scandal. His wife, Huma Abedin, just announced that they're separating. You will probably know by now that she is a top aide to Hillary Clinton and has been for decades. And you'll probably also remember Anthony Weiner's past exploits. They led to his resignation from Congress five years ago. And they also derailed his hopes to become New York's mayor three years ago. And that's not all. There's more in his sexting timeline. I want to bring in CNN's Miguel Marquez and CNN's Jeff Zeleny, our senior Washington correspondent, who's out in south Hampton at a Clinton fundraising event.

To the politics in a moment. First to the reporting. Miguel Marquez, I feel like this is sort of a deja vu because I feel like it was only two weeks ago I heard another story about sexting. This would be the third time running. Am I crazy?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are not crazy and it feels like, ugh, here we go again. And it would be funny and easily laughable except that this guy clearly has an issue. His Twitter page was taken down today. "The New York Post" screaming across its front page, "pop goes the Weiner." What is most concerning about this story is that "The Post" says from 2015 - January 2015 till this month he was texting with a 40-something divorcee from out west, as they put it. And in that picture, during a sexual conversation with this 40- year-old, he says someone just climbed in bed with me, and it is a picture of his son next to the bare torso. Anthony Weiner dressed only in underwear. And that has led us to today.

BANFIELD: And, by the way, a very suggestive photo that happens to be beside his child.

MARQUEZ: Sent during a sexual conversation with a 40-something divorcee from out west. It's disturbing.

BANFIELD: And the 40-year-old woman, by the way, there's so many men who are divorcees who don't get called divorces, so I'm not going to call her divorcee, me being one, but she used his name. She said, "Weiner," with a capital "w."

MARQUEZ: She used his name. "The Post" goes on to say that he was afraid that he had sent that out publicly, as he had done the first time around, in 2011, as you remember, lots of fodder for the entire world of Hollywood on down. He sent what he thought was a direct message via Twitter to a woman. Instead, it was a tweet to the entire world.

BANFIELD: So -

MARQUEZ: That started his downfall from Congress. Then he looked like he was having a comeback. And then again, the Carlos Danger (ph) tweets, sexting tweets to yet other women.

BANFIELD: What a charmer. What a charmer.

MARQUEZ: And now this today.

BANFIELD: I've covered them all and I'm confused. So just quickly, for the time line, 2011, he gets caught and he resigns from Congress. 2013, he gets caught again trying to make a comeback running for New York mayor, and that derails the mayoral campaign. Two weeks ago "The New York Post" runs another story about him doing it again. And then today on the front cover of "The New York Post," he's not only sexting, but there's a picture of his baby next to him. So we're clear on how many infractions and how ugly.

This is what Huma Abedin has said in a statement today. "After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband. Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy." Clearly she likes their privacy. We're not so sure about his respect for her privacy and their child's privacy.

Jeff Zeleny, you're in south Hampton today. Donald Trump has made no secret that he wanted to tie Anthony Weiner and his bad behavior to Huma Abedin, who is Hillary Clinton's closest aide. Are they reacting on the campaign trail? Because I know she's with Hillary out there in South Hampton where you are.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: She is, Ashleigh. Huma Abedin is with Hillary Clinton. She was seen yesterday. She was going around to four fundraising events throughout the day here in the Hamptons on Long Island in New York. And we are told that she is also out here with her son, Jordan. Huma is not in public view yet today. We don't know if she will be as the afternoon goes on.

But make no mistake, she is the closest, longest serving adviser to the secretary. She has been with her for two decades, since she was a young woman working for the first lady at the time. So she is as close as a family member here.

Now, I am told by a close friend of Huma Abedin's that they have essentially been estranged for nearly a year. She has been sharing an apartment with him in New York and their son when she is not on the road traveling with the campaign. But they have essentially been estranged for about a year. But now when this explosive report came out this morning in "The New York Post," she was forced to make a public declaration of the fact that they intend to separate and they are indeed separated here.

[12:20:11] The Clinton campaign officially has not commented on any of this yet, but, Ashleigh, you can expect Donald Trump to. He talks about Anthony Weiner a lot on the campaign trail. Call him a pervert. Of course we know Donald Trump reads those New York tabloids where he gets a lot of his information from. He makes frequent references to it. The Clinton campaign so far has not commented on this and I do not believe that they will. They say it is a personal matter between Huma Abedin and her now estranged husband, former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, stand by, don't go anywhere, Jeff.

Miguel, what about Anthony Weiner in all of this. As everyone is working on their reaction and their public statements, has he got one?

MARQUEZ: Well, we've reached out to him. "The Post" actually got him for this. He was very sort of - you know, he didn't say a whole lot except to say that we have been friends for some time, responding to this woman, this 40 something year old woman from out west. That their conversations, he believed, were private, and didn't' want to share too much with them. And that he also said, interestingly enough, that they were always appropriate, referring to their conversations. So this is somebody who clearly just has an issue even knowing where the line is anymore with regard to sort of sexting and the conversations that he has. I think that, you know, "The Post" putting that picture on the cover with his son sleeping next to him dressed only in his underwear is - is certainly an issue.

BANFIELD: And referring to the son. Not just accidentally getting caught in the shot.

MARQUEZ: Referring to the son.

BANFIELD: Referring to, look who just crawled into bed with me, as he's having a sexual conversation and showing his lower torso. MARQUEZ: And so to "The Post" it appears that Anthony Weiner basically

admitted that this conversation - these conversations happened over - over a year.

BANFIELD: Yes. He lost the support of his old roommate John Stewart a long time ago. And this would have been, you know, somebody who would support him to the end. But John Stewart just let it go and let rip on him when he had his Comedy Central show. So you can - you can imagine what Huma Abedin has been going through.

By the way, we're just working right now on getting some reaction from the Donald Trump camp as well. And we think that's just coming through the - the pipe. So as soon as we get that, we're going to bring it to you as well. But, Miguel Marquez, with your reporting, thank you. Jeff Zeleny out in South Hampton, thank you for that as well. We'll continue to watch for how Donald Trump's going to react. He has been ruthless about Huma's connection to this, this scandal and then Hillary Clinton's obvious connection to Huma. So it will be interesting to see what he has to say.

I want to turn now, though, to another very big story that's coming out of Chicago, the death of a mother of four, innocent mother of four, shot and killed while pushing her newborn baby in a stroller. Nykea Aldridge also happened to be the cousin of an NBA all-star player. And we're going to share his thoughts. Plus, hear from her mother, her heartbreak and how she feels about the men accused of killing her daughter. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:27:23] BANFIELD: Chicago police have arrested two brothers in connection with the death of NBA star Dwyane Wade's cousin, Nykea Aldridge. Darwin Sorrells Jr. and Derren Sorrells have both been charged with first degree murder and attempted murder. Investigators say both men were on parole for gun convictions. In the meantime, Dwyane Wade took to Twitter to mourn his loss saying, quote, "my cousin was killed today in Chicago. Another act of senseless gun violence. Four kids lost their mom for no reason. Unreal. #enoughisenough."

And that last line, "enough is enough," is being echoed throughout Chicago after yet another deadly weekend where since Saturday afternoon, Saturday afternoon, at least people are four dead, 24 others have been shot and hurt. "The Chicago Tribune" is reporting that 455 people have been shot and killed in Chicago this year. We're not at September yet. Four-hundred and fifty-five people shot and killed. What will the tally be December 31st?

Joining us now with more is Rachel Crane.

So, Rachel, you were able to speak with Nykea Aldridge's mother. I cannot imagine what that interview was like.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, it was truly heartbreaking speaking to this mourning mother. She described her daughter as spirited. She said that her daughter was an amazing writer. She loved writing poetry. That she was quite the fashionista and that her whole life was about her four children.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANN ALDRIDGE, NYKEA ALDRIDGE'S MOTHER: They miss their mom. They want - they want their mom. And it just hurts to hear kids saying they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore. Only through spirit. Only through - only through pictures. That's the only way they can know their mom for the rest of their lives. The only thing they have to go on is what they had. And it's just heartbreaking. It's really - oh, God, it's heartbreaking.

And I truly, truly, from the bottom of my heart, I forgive them. I forgive them. I can't bring her back, but I forgive them. And I just pray to God that they pray to God to ask for forgiveness for what they've done. They've taken a precious life senselessly. And I just love them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)