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CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton Foundation Scrutiny; New Presidential Poll on Honesty; Gretchen Carlson Settles Harassment Suit; Philippines President Regrets Cursing Obama. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 6, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] JOE BIDEN (D), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Between the family and the foundation will be from this point forward.

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And one of the things that's interesting, Jeff, is, you know, she made a commitment about the foundation activities before the election. You know, we'll stop taking donations, the foundation will, from certain groups, and then after the election, an additional commitment about President Clinton stepping back. Meanwhile, this week there's been a story about the Trump Foundation, that they used charitable foundation moneys in the Trump Foundation to make an illegal campaign contribution to a Florida attorney general, who was considering whether to sue Trump U or not. And, of course, after the $25,000 went to the Florida A.G., she didn't pursue the lawsuit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So there we see Tim Kaine really stepping into his role as the attack dog there, trying to turn this away from the Clinton Foundation to these Trump allegations. But, Carol, so interesting seeing what they hope is a passing of the torch moment here between Joe Biden and Tim Kaine. But, of course, they'd have to win the election first in November there. But seeing Joe Biden you do kind of, regardless of your politics, get a little wistful that he'll be leaving the stage because perhaps no one says it more blunt than he does.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he has been quite entertaining at times too.

ZELENY: Right.

COSTELLO: He really has.

Going back to the Florida attorney general. She's no longer the Florida attorney general because she lost in Florida, right, but -- but what exactly is Tim Kaine talking about?

ZELENY: No, she still is the Florida attorney general.

COSTELLO: Oh, she still is, I'm sorry.

ZELENY: And what he's talking about is the Trump Foundation was fined by the IRS for giving money to her. And the whole question here is -- and it was -- it was not listed correctly in their bookkeeping. So a Trump spokeswoman this morning said, look, it was a clerical error. Of course you cannot give a political contribution if you're a non-profit foundation here. So the IRS actually had a fine of $2,500 to this Trump Foundation here. So all the talk of pay for play, we're heard a lot of allegations to the Clinton Foundation, this is the only example so far of someone who's been fined and penalized here. So a little bit confusing. Trump said he knew nothing about it here. But at issue was the Florida attorney general was looking into Trump University, which is, of course, a controversy.

COSTELLO: And then the Trump charitable foundation donated $25,000 to Pam Bondi, right?

ZELENY: To a -- a political group supporting her.

COSTELLO: Oh, gotcha.

ZELENY: And that is the controversy here. So "The Washington Post" had a good report on that and our Drew Griffin is looking into it as well.

COSTELLO: All right, I look forward to his report. Thanks so much, Jeff Zeleny.

ZELENY: You bet.

COSTELLO: OK, so let's talk about trust, because Hillary Clinton is the one with the trust issue. When asked who was more honest and trustworthy, voters told CNN/ORC pollsters, Mr. Trump. Now, keep in mind, this poll was taken during the time the FBI released its findings on Clinton's e-mail server. So that may or may not have played a part in how people answered. But, still, Hillary Clinton clearly has a trust problem.

With me now to talk about that is Jason Johnson, politics editor for theroot.com and professor of political science and communication at Morgan State, and David Paleologos, he's the director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

Welcome back. Thanks for sticking around.

JASON JOHNSON, POLITICS EDITOR, THEROOT.COM: A pleasure.

COSTELLO: So, Jason, Joe Biden says Clinton's lack of trust is because we've had an incredibly confusing year. What exactly does Joe Biden mean by that?

JOHNSON: Well, I think Joe Biden means that we've had a confusing year because we've got a politician versus an outsider. And I've always said this about American voters. Like, Americans love rich people. Like, we love rich people, whether you're, you know, Papa John's or you're running FaceBook, we always seem to think that business people are great.

But what's interesting when it comes to this trust issue is, if you look at the controversy surrounding Hillary Clinton, whether it's the Clinton Foundation or it's her e-mail scandals, they really pale in comparison to what Trump did with Trump University or now paying off Pam Bondi. But to your average American, we sort of think, well that's just how business operates. But politicians, when they share money, that's a problem. So people think she's less trustworthy because we hold politicians to a different standard than what we hold business people.

COSTELLO: David, do you agree with that?

DAVID PALEOLOGOS, DIRECTOR, SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY POLITICAL RESEARCH CENTER: I do. And it's -- you know, she needs to make that case. You know, the voters aren't saying that in the polling, that, you know, that her untrustworthy number is more potent than Trump's. And Trump -- and they both, by the way, are well over 50 percent on the trust number. Over 50 percent on the unfavorable number. But she has to make the case. She hasn't been as active and as visible. I mean the trust number, even among African-Americans in our poll. Now, Trump was only getting 4 percent of the vote. But one in five, over 20 percent of African-American voter said that Hillary Clinton was not honest and trustworthy. They're sticking by her, but they're -- you know, the trustworthy number goes all the way across all demographics, Hispanics, whites, and that's a problem.

COSTELLO: Well, it's interesting because, you know, Trump has -- has allowed reporters to look at very little documentation into his business practices and he's not released his taxes and it appears he's not going to. Here's what he said on "GMA" this morning. He was sitting beside Mike Pence, his running mate. Let's listen.

[08:35:12] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm releasing my tax returns. Donald Trump will release his tax returns. I'll -- I'll give mine to y'all this week and he's going to provide his after a routine audit is done.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: As far as my taxes are concerned, the only one that cares is the press, I will tell you. And even the press -- I'll tell you, it's not a big deal.

DAVID MUIR, "GMA" HOST: You don't think there are any voters out there who --

TRUMP: I don't think so. No, I think -- I think people don't care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Jason, is he right, people just don't care?

JOHNSON: I think that people's expectations of Donald Trump, Carol, are so low at this point that it doesn't matter. And this is -- this is the other thing I think is important. Whenever we talk about trust, and the same thing happened to Bill Clinton back in the '90s, it's not really about who you trust more, it's who you trust to do the job, because if you ask your average person, would you trust Donald Trump to do your taxes? No, I wouldn't trust Donald Trump to negotiate my purchase at Starbucks, right? Would you trust Hillary Clinton to do your taxes? I wouldn't trust her to do that either. But most people would say they trust Hillary Clinton to run the country better. You don't have to be trustworthy universally, you just have to be more trustworthy than the other person.

COSTELLO: That's just so strange. The other strange thing is, as I watched that interview, Mike Pence says, I'm going to release my taxes no problem, but I'd say voters really are not very interested in Mike Pence's taxes, but they are interested in his running mate's taxes, David. It's just -- it's just a strange juxtaposition.

PALEOLOGOS: Well, in our poll, nearly four in five likely voters said that Donald Trump should follow the precedent from prior presidential candidates and file the taxes, even if it were the taxes that, you know, he's not being audited by. And if you look across demographics, you name the demographics, gender, age, race, area, whatever, it was in the high 70s across the board that people want him to release his tax returns. And even among registered Republicans, 62 percent of registered Republicans said he should release his tax returns. So it's -- it's -- I wouldn't say people don't care. People do care and they want him to release them.

COSTELLO: I don't think he's going to.

JOHNSON: No.

COSTELLO: Jason and David, thanks so much for sticking around.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: A conservative icon has died. Phyllis Schlafly passed away yesterday at her St. Louis home. She was 92 years old. The prominent anti-feminist was an early leader for the social conservative movement. During the 1960s and 1970s, Schlafly was outspoken against liberalism. Schlafly was best known for her fight against the Equal Rights Amendment and her beliefs helped form what is now known as the Modern Religious Right. Her anti-feminist movement was featured in the CNN series "The '70s."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY: I would like to thank my husband Fred for letting me come today. I love to say that because it irritates the women's libbers more than anything that I say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She said, you've got a good deal, women. You are an exalted member of the human race. You are held to a higher standard. You're put on a pedestal. You're protected by men. You're provided for by men. Why would you want to give that up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: She remained in the political arena throughout her life. Most recently, she made the case for Donald Trump. Trump did release a statement about Schlafly's death saying, quote, "I was honored to spend time with her during this campaign as she waged one more great battle for national sovereignty."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:38] ANNOUNCER: COSTELLO: It is CNN breaking news.

COSTELLO: It is in the eight figures. Tens of millions of dollars. That's how much money former anchor Gretchen Carlson is reportedly collecting from Fox News. According to "Vanity Fair," the settlement is coming just two months after she sues Roger Ailes, her boss, and the former head of the network for sexual harassment. In addition to that eight figure settlement, an apology could also be coming from Fox.

So let's talk about this with Brian Stelter. He's been following this case closely.

Wow.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: No one expected this lawsuit two months ago and no one expected this settlement today. "Vanity Fair" reporting this is a $20 million settlement over Gretchen Carlson's allegations of harassment and retaliation by former Fox News chief Roger Ailes. In this statement -- well, take a look at this statement. It is, again, unlike something we've really seen before in corporate America. It says in part, "21st Century Fox is pleased to announce that it has settled Gretchen Carlson's lawsuit. During her tenure at Fox News, Gretchen exhibited the highest standards of journalism and professional. She developed a loyal audience and was a daily source of information for many Americans."

And then it goes on to say, Carol, "we sincerely regret and apologize for the fact that Gretchen was not treated with the respect and dignity that she and all of her colleagues deserve." What's notable about that is it's an implicit acknowledgement of the harassment or the retaliation. Roger Ailes has continued to deny the allegations leveled against him, but the company, 21st Century Fox, the owner of Fox News, is acknowledging that she was wronged in some fashion and is apologizing publicly for it.

COSTELLO: But this is just -- this is just so big in my mind. I don't remember any other victim of sexual harassment settling for such a huge amount of money.

STELTER: That's right. This is beyond Fox News. This is beyond television news. This is about corporate America more broadly and about what it means when a woman comes forward. A woman who had been fired from her job comes forward and says there was a pattern of harassment and retaliation against her. Now, there had been speculation that maybe she had been recording Ailes saying sexually suggestive and inappropriate things. I think this settlement may suggest, yes, she did have recordings, yes, she did have damaging evidence against Ailes and maybe against Fox.

COSTELLO: Because, otherwise, let's face it, it would boil down to a he-said/she-said. So she had to have some pretty powerful stuff against Roger Ailes to make this settlement possible. STELTER: "Vanity Fair" also reporting that two other women have also

settled in this situation. Remember, Carlson only sued Ailes individually. She chose not to sue Fox News as a whole. And yet 21st Century Fox was essentially on the hook, essentially backing up Ailes because of the contract that he had at the network. Now, he has left, as of July 21st, no longer with Fox News. He is said to be giving Donald Trump informal advice about Trump's campaign. We haven't heard from Ailes about this, though. We don't know how much of the $20 million he will be paying out of his own pocket.

[09:45:29] COSTELLO: There is more news coming out of Fox News that's rather surprising that you just told me as you sat down and I went, what?

STELTER: Yes, another big announcement from Fox News, apparently completely unrelated, but one of the highest profile women at the network, Greta van Susteren, leaving effective today. Now, this almost never happens in television.

COSTELLO: In the middle of an election?

STELTER: That's right.

COSTELLO: Like two months before the election.

STELTER: We haven't heard from her yet. She's not quoted in the statement. We know that Brit Hume will be taking over her 7:00 p.m. hour. Again, another sign of dramatic developments behind the scenes at Fox News. That stuff doesn't normally happen on air, but behind the scenes.

COSTELLO: But she was a supporter of Roger Ailes, right, Greta van Susteren?

STELTER: Well, she came out initially, like most of the biggest stars at Fox, and said she didn't know about harassment, she had never been harassed and she wasn't aware of what was allegedly happening with Carlson. Now, she later said, she was just speaking for herself, she was not speaking about other employees. According to numerous media reports, about 20 women eventually did come forward, past and present Fox employees, who told the investigates about alleged harassment by Ailes. Now, all along, Ailes has denied the allegations against him. He hasn't commented publically, but he's been denying it through a number of lawyers he has. In fact, last week he actually sent a threatening legal letter to a reporter for "New York Magazine," Gabriel Sherman, who's been leading the way on this story.

COSTELLO: Yes.

STELTER: Now that letter might just be intimidation, or it might be the prelude to a lawsuit by Roger Ailes against the magazine he worked for, "New York Magazine." So all that's happening. In the meantime, Fox News is in rebuilding mode. Now this announcement by Greta van Susteren that she's leaving the network effective today just the latest signs of a shakeup in the conservative media world.

COSTELLO: I have to admit, it's -- it's sad. Fascinating. Brian Stelter, thanks for some great reporting.

STELTER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it.

All right, still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama making his first presidential visit to Laos, but his trip was overshadowed by a meeting he will no longer be holding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:38] COSTELLO: The president of the Philippines now says he regrets cursing President Obama. Yes, that world leader called the American president a "son of a bitch" or "son of a whore." The reaction from the White House was swift. It canceled talks between Mr. Obama and the Filipino president. President Obama is in Laos for a summit of southeast Asian leaders. CNN's Michelle Kosinski has more now on the diplomatic spat.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Yes, this is an unprecedented, extremely bizarre, extremely unfortunate situation, especially in this setting. I mean what world leader does not want to try to put the best face forward before a meeting like this. But here you have the new president of the Philippines, who's known as this controversial fire brand, on what would have been the eve of his first ever meeting with President Obama, a treaty ally, calling the president a "son of a whore" to reporters and then threatening to curse him further if President Obama so much as brought up the vigilante style killing of thousands of people in the Philippians just over the last couple of months during the drug war that's going on there.

Listen to first what President Duterte said, and then how President Obama responded later in a press conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGO DUTERTE, PHILIPPINES PRESIDENT: Who is he? I am a president of a sovereign state and we have long ceased (ph) to be a colony. I do not have any (INAUDIBLE) except the Filipino people. Nobody but nobody.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just heard about some of this. But I have seen some of those colorful statements in the past. And -- so clearly he's a colorful guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Well, shortly after those comments were made, boom, the White House canceled this meeting. They told me this morning that they couldn't really see how this would be constructive at all. And, furthermore, that it would have been a disservice to the Filipino people to have this meeting under these circumstances.

Now, today, the Filipino president has apologized, saying he regrets that his comments could have been seen as an attack on President Obama, although tough to see how they could have been construed otherwise. But he still wants to have this meeting and have it be constructive sometime in the future.

And speaking of constructive relationships, today, while the president is in Laos, he wants to focus on building that cooperation, starting with a big commitment to try to remove as many as possible of some 80 million unexploded bombs here. And that's of the more than 270 million cluster bombs that the U.S. dropped on Laos during nine years of the Vietnam War. To this day, those unexploded bombs do explode causing casualties. And tomorrow President Obama, in fact, is going to meet with some of the victims.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Michelle Kosinski reporting. Thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a twist in the Bill Cosby case. He's back in court where his lawyers may ask a judge to throw out two key pieces of evidence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:58:56] COSTELLO: Checking some top stories at 58 minutes past.

One person is dead and six others wounded after a car bomb explodes outside a non-profit facility in Afghanistan. The non-profit group specialized in women's and girls' rights. Afghan officials say three suicide bombers carried out that attack. At least one of them entered the compound and was killed by Afghan special forces. They rescued 42 people, including 10 foreigners. So far no claim of responsibility.

Bill Cosby back in court today. His lawyers may ask a judge to throw out two key pieces of evidence in his sexual assault case. First the deposition Cosby gave in a 2005 lawsuit against him by accuser Andrea Constand, where he described the encounter with her. And the second piece of evidence, a phone call with Constand's mother where Cosby offers to pay for her education. Constand says Cosby drugged and then sexually assaulted her in 2004. Cosby is now charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault.

Many people going back to work this morning and that includes Congress. Lawmakers are returning to Capitol Hill. They've got a lot on their plate in the next four weeks. First up, the Senate will vote at 5:30 p.m. Eastern on a $1 billion bill to fight Zika. Democrats have already blocked it once because it contains restrictions for funding for Planned Parenthood.