tv Smerconish CNN June 11, 2016 3:00pm-4:01pm PDT
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create this foundation from which they can thrive. >> and you can nominate a cnn hero at cnnheroes.com. i'm pamela brown in washington. i'll be back in one hour, live from the cnn newsroom. "smerconish" starts right now. i'm michael smer connick. with hillary clinton now the presumptive nominee, donald trump is gunning for her. he announced he'll make a speech this monday that will expose clinton's finances. i'm going to speak to the author of the playbook that i think trump will be using. meanwhile, behind the scenes, some still hope to subvert trump's nomination all together, by changing the convention rules. is that even possible at this point? and, a fresh look at the historic kitty jen vees case.
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a young woman murderered in new york, and legend has it, nobody tried to help. a new film bill her brother proves otherwise. but first, brace yourselves. having already begun an incendiary campaign against hillary clinton, donald trump is promising to take it up a few notches further in a speech this monday. take a listen. >> i am going to give a major speech on probably monday of next week and we're going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the clintons. i think you're going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. hillary clinton turned the state department into her private hedge fund. the russians, the saudis, the chinese, all gave money to bill and hillary, and got favorable treatment in return. it's a sad day in america when foreign governments with deep pockets have more influence in our own country than our great citizens. >> so, here's what he seems to be talking about.
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the long simmering allegations about the clintons and money. accusations largely from the book "clinton cash: the untold story of how and why foreign governments and businesses helped make bill and hillary rich." which has now spawned a documentary that showed at the cannes film festival. >> greetings from washington. i want to thank all of you for your work to root out corruption, that weakens economic development. >> the documentary is going to open july 24, on the eve of the democratic convention, and joining me now is the executive producer of the movie and author of the book, peter schweitzer, and david brock, founder of the clinton super pac, correct the record. peter, i read the book. here's the premise as i understand it. they allowed individuals to skirt foreign participation in american politics by hiring bill to speak and by making contributions to the clinton initiative in return for
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political influence. is that the cliffs note version? >> yeah, that's exactly right. it's the odd adage, follow the money. i happen to believe that when it comes to american industries or foreign sending large checks to politicians, they're not doing it out of the kindness of their hearts. they want favors in the case of the clintons, we're talking about massive amounts of money and we're talking about favorable action in return. >> so, give me the short version of the most come pefling case that you write about in the book. >> well, the power of the case is that you see the same pattern repeated over and over and over again. there's no disputing that. a foreign -- it can be a corporation, a foreign government, sends the clintons a large sum of money. hillary clinton is secretary of state, takes favorable action on their behalf. you could look at a couple of those examples, say, maybe it's just coincidence, but when you see that same pattern over and over and over again, i think it's naive to just think that there's nothing going on there. >> one example you wrote about
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extensively has to do with uranium. explain. >> yes. it's a canadian financeer. bill clinton helped him procure a lucrative uranium concession. bill clinton's foundation gets $30 million out of the deal. that same canadian company later on wants to sell to the russian government, which requires federal government approval. one of the agencies that has to approve that deal is hillary clinton's state department. nine shareholders in that company, including the chairman, send $145 million to the clinton foundation and, by the way, as "the new york times" and others have confirmed that story, some of those donations were not disclosed by the clintons, even though they promised president obama and the senate foreign relations committee they would do exactly that thing. >> but peter, aren't i correct in saying that "time" magazine looking at the case that you established said there's absolutely no evidence that hillary clinton herself played a direct role in any of that?
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>> well, we don't know. i mean, this is the problem. look. imagine you had a county council somewhere where you had nine people voting and everybody votes in favor of a development, but one of the county commissioners got $145 million from the developer. wouldn't people say, we need to look into this? and that's what i'm calling for. i'm calling for an investigation. to me, it's absurd that, in a time when we are looking at, you know, $50,000, $100,000 donations to political campaigns and arguing influence, nobody wants to look at $145 million that happens to come sometimes in hidden donations, at the precise time that this government agency is looking at this. >> i would say this. i mean, there are a lot of interesting pieces to a puzzle that you've assembled here but i don't know that you put the puzzle together. let me put on the screen from the table of contents of the book. i want to draw attention to chapter 11, which says, you know, the title. quid pro quo, but even you put a question mark after it.
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so, like, in the end, what have you established? >> what i've established is a pattern of behavior. this is one of the biggest misnomers, by the way, that you're going to hear from the clinton campaign, is that there's no quid pro quo. that's not the legal standard. i would ask anybody to look at recent cases, whether it's governor mcdonald in virginia, whether it's nor msenator menenn new jersey, precisely on a pattern of behavior. in none of those cases was there an e-mail, recorded phone conversation, that established a kwid pro coe. it was a pattern of money flowing, favorable action taken. in the case of the clintons, it is far more established than it was in any of those cases. >> all right, peter, hang on. i want to hear what hillary clinton's position will be on these allegations, and for that, joining me now is david brock, he's the founder of the clinton super pac, correct the record. "time" magazine described him as one of the most influence shl operatives in the democratic party. david, respond to what you just
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heard from peter. >> well, i think these charges were aired more than a year ago. a lot, you know, every major media outlet in the country that i could see looked into the allegations raised in the book, to the questions that were raised, and they all concluded, i think what you just established in your interview. that there's no there there. there's no evidence that the money influenced decisions. and, in fact, in the specifics that are raised on the uranium case in the interagency process, the appointee from state says they never spoke to hillary clinton about it. so, on the facts, it's just wrong. but the bigger question is, you led with donald trump, is this donald trump's playbook? and if it is, he's going to come up short, just as the author of this book came up short a year ago. donald trump is certainly the wrong messenger for an anti-corruption story. the clinton foundation tried to help people in need. look at that compared to trump university and the scam that was pulled. >> let me say this. i want to be devil's advocate
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with you in the same way i was with peter. i know he gets portrayed as a st stooge for the koch brothers, but "the washington post," abc built on his reporting. >> they did, sure. and they built on it, but what did they come up with? nothing more than what he came up with. the book was taken seriously. "the wall street journal" looked into it for months and found, quote, no wrongdoing. so, the book has been aired. that's my point. it's had its day in the sun. and it did nothing. >> i know that you lose people in the details of these cases, but what i remember from that chapter on the uranium deal is that bill clinton spoke in 2011 in russia, got paid 500 k, the last time he'd spoke there, his fee was 195 k, and there was a tie between the group that brought him in who had a piece of the uranium deal and a connection to vladimir putin.
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you look at that sort of thing, you say, well, is there a causal connection. i don't know what the answer is. >> well, i don't think you can -- i mean, i've written books, i don't think, as the author said at the time, you can't just raise questions and provide no answers. i think that's innuendo. >> but maybe he's taken it as far as he can take it. i -- here's what i'm saying. let me be very blunt with david brock. >> sure. >> i don't put peter and "clinton cash" in the same cat goi category as all that crap with foster. >> neither do i. >> how will the secretary respond? is there a rapid response that's going to come into play? >> well, sure, there is. i don't know how the secretary herself is going to respond. we're going to respond, we're going to fact check that speech in real-time. we know that donald trump is factually challenged. the things he's thrown out about
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the clintons to date have come out of tabloids. i don't know if he's going to use this book as part of his playbook, but we're going to fact check him in real time and raise the issues that need to be raised about donald trump as a messenger on corruption. the politico did an investigation just a few weeks ago, found ties to organized crime, to the russian mob. let's talk about his foreign ties. who are his foreign investors? he wants to talk about -- the reason we know all this about the clinton foundation is, they are 100% transparent. where are donald trump's tax returns? that's what we're going to see on monday. >> final question. in retrospect, would the initiative, the clinton initiative, have been better taken no foreign money so there wouldn't be these questions? i think you have to. it's a global initiative. i think you have to take the foreign money and the protocols were set up at the state department and they were followed. >> gentlemen, peter, david, thank you so much. >> thanks. >> thank you, michael. could the rnc change the rules so that donald trump isn't the gop nominee? is that even possible at this point? i'll talk to someone who knows, a member of the rnc rules
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we all know that donald trump is the gop's presumptive nominee, but not yet the actual nominee, because that doesn't officially happen until the convention next month. and, even though he has the number of delegates, anti-trump forces are reportedly plotting a convention strategy to upend his candidacy. this late in the game, can that be possible? is it legal? can it work? joining me now, somebody who has lots to say about this. randy evans of the rnc rules committee, and the subcommittee specifically about presidential nomination. randy, thanks for coming back. how firm is trump's hold on the nomination? >> it's very firm. it would be virtually impossible, given the margin that he's got in terms of delegates, for anybody to pull
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any kind of shenanigans in terms of taking the nomination away. like you, i've heard all of the various rumors, i actually have a folder called convention mishaps, which talk about everything from running the clock out to changing the requisite to a higher number, to staging a walkout. but simply stated, the margin that he has in terms of the pledged delegates, it's just too great. it is also -- >> you have a file, you have a contingency plan file is what i'm hearing? >> you are absolutely right. we war game this virtually every day of what could go wrong and make sure that doesn't happen. >> who is creating the buzz? i mean, at what level is this being spread if are there individuals with clout within the rnc that you think want this to happen? >> i see names occasionally pop up. different folks at different times. and there's no doubt in my mind there's a collective of staffers and a few people who would like to call some difficulties on the floor. i just don't see how that's feasible given the margin that
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he's got in term of pledged delegate ors the margin that he has in terms of actual trump delegates. that's a much more important number, which, how many of these folks are not just pledged, but support donald trump to be the presidential nominee. >> okay, so, randy evans, who is in the know, says, you don't think that's going to materialize. let me ask you about a different convention subject. how will the platform square itself with trump's more controversial stance? i mean, is it possible that the republican platform this year will be one that embraces banning muslims? one that says, we're building a wall. and if not, what about donald trump's plans? >> well, i think back to ronald reagan in 1980, when he said he really didn't care what the platform meant. i actually think the platform makes a difference and i think those are going to be some very lively discussions. it looks to me, based on what i've seen in terms of the membership of the platform committee, that he's got voting control, but not firm voting control. so, i think you're going to see
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a lot of give and take on the platform committee about exactly where that language ends up, and you're right. a lot of those issues are very important to the nominee, the question is, will they make their way into the actual document, which is the platform? >> final question. we know donald trump in part from his success in reality television. what do you think he's going to bring to primetime that we haven't seen before? >> oh, i think he's going to bring a lot of commitment and he's going to bring the unexpected. i would say viewers are going to get what they really want to see, which is an entertaining convention, with a nominee who has a lot of passionate followers, giving a message they are eager to hear. and the delegates who are going to be in the room, they're going to be wowed, but those at home are going to be wowed, as well. >> randy evans, thank you. >> thank you. still to come, donald trump loves to compare himself to ronald reagan, but reagan's eldest son said that if his dad were alive today, he would not be supportive of the gop nominee. michael rail began joeagan join and this week, i debated my
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fellow pennsylvanian, jeffrey lord. now comes the rematch. today, chris christie, instead of calling out the crap, stood with donald trump and said, you know, he's my friend and i don't believe him to be a racist. the same principle. it's looking at someone and s saying, well, you can't be fair because you're a white guy -- >> but that is being said. >> by donald trump! and can you explain to me why you recommend synthetic over cedar? "super food"? is that a real thing? it's a great school, but is it the right the one for her? is this really any better than the one you got last year? if we consolidate suppliers what's the savings there? so should we go with the 467 horsepower? or is a 423 enough? good question. you ask a lot of good questions... i think we should move you into our new fund. ok. sure. but are you asking enough about how your wealth is managed? wealth management, at charles schwab. hmmmmm.......
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donald trump has often compared himself to ronald reagan. >> i have evolved. i talk about evolving all the time. and by the way, you know who else evolved is ronald reagan evolved. he had a great heart and i have a great heart. one other thing i'll say, because he mentioned the fact that i was at the point a democrat. if you look at ronald reagan, he was a democrat, he was actually, don, he was a democrat with a very liberal, or at least a
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pretty liberal -- i knew him well. he was this great guy. >> but to paraphrase the late lloyd benson, my next guest says to trump, i knew ronald reagan, and you, sir, are no ronald reagan. his new book is "lessons my father taught me: the strength, integrity and faith of ronald reagan." michael reagan joins me now. do you bristle when you hear him make those comparisons? >> i bristle when anybody makes those comparisons. >> fair point. >> we were lucky enough to have ronald reagan, you know, for eight years, during our lives, to be president of the united states of america. they really need to put him in the rear view mirror and look forward and say what they're going to do to make this world and this country a much better place to live than trying to sell themselves as the next ronald reagan, because there is no next ronald reagan. >> okay. but about this candidate in particular, is there anything reagan-esque? >> no. not really. there's nothing really
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reagan-esque. i meerngs an, my father was hum. that's not what you find in a donald trump, i might say. i write about it in my book, about my father, the humility that he had, the fact that he wasn't demean, he didn't talk down to people, he talked with people, which is the opposite of what donald trump, in fact, does. >> he disarmed your father with humor. i read that part of the book where you said that he never spoke down to folks, i mean, his tool in his arsenal was to be funny, and to be insightful through his humor. >> absolutely right. he really disarmed people. look at mondale in the '84 debates. disarmed him and won the debate with one line in that. or, you know, when my father was shot and he says to the doctors, hey, i hope you're all republicans, or he says to nancy, honey, i forgot to duck. i mean, always that side of him, that humorous side of him that really diffused situations and
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put people at ease within his presence. >> michael, here is something i found very interesting. on the back cover of the book, there's a blush, a wonderful blush, but newt gingrich. it occurs to me, how would michael reagan feel if donald trump were to tap newt as his vee pe a veep and for newt to say yes. >> i think it would be a good choice. he needs someone who certainly knows washington and certainly knows the congress of the united states. it was newt who put together the package that allowed the republicans after 40 years in the wilderness, to come back and take control of the congress of the united states. i think it would be a good choice for him, but what happens is, people always vote for the top of the ticket, they don't vote for second place. >> but you've acknowledged, you didn't vote for donald trump in california in the recent primary. would you be disappointed in newt if he accepted that invitation from donald trump? >> no, i wouldn't be disappointed in newt. i would hope that newt would be able to take him aside and really talk to him in the right kind of way and tell him what he
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needs to do. and he really does need to humble himself. you know, my father humbled himself, said, i'm sorry and apologized for iran-contra. and people forgave him for apologizing. and from there, he went on to greatness. donald trump would go a long ways to apologize, to the judge, apologizing to ted cruz's father, apologizing to marco rubio, and apologizing to many other people and humbling himself and going forward. if he doesn't do that, he's going to have a lot of trouble winning the election in november. >> final question for michael reagan. i saw on twitter, when you said that this is perhaps the first republican for whom your father would not have voted for president. i'm curious about you. are you prepared to vote for hillary clinton? are you prepared to vote for gary johnson? what are you going to do in a general election? >> i'm prepared to vote for the down ticket, at this point in time. it's up to, in fact, donald trump to convince me that he
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wants my vote and therefore earns my vote. i don't think you just give it willy nilly. it's an important position. and i think you really have to earn it instead of going in lock step. and i don't appreciate the name-calling, the degradation, the demeaning that's going on in this primary circus that we, in fact, had, and it's up to donald trump to unite and put the party together. it's not up to me. it's not up to others, it's up to donald trump to do that. and how he's going to do it, we don't know. >> michael reagan, thank you. best of luck with the book. >> thank you. >> to respond, a man who usually has, i want to take a good look at him and see if it is behind him. there it is. jeffrey lord, who served as the associate political director in the reagan white house and who defends donald trump better than donald trump depends himself, here on cnn and beyond. jeffrey, you served in his white house, you have his portrait behind you as we see it right now, we're all accustomed to
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that camera shot, but what to michael reagan's point that donald trump is not reagan-esque? >> well, michael, my friend michael, that is something i have said repeatedly on cnn, that they are not the same. and i made a point of saying that no two human beings are alike. this is one of the reasons for the pro-live movement. we believe that every human soul is unique. ronald reagan isn't coming back. ronald reagan was unique. donald trump is not ronald reagan. are there aspects of their campaigns and this moment that are similar, sure. one of them that i've written about at length is the kind of enemies they had. ronald reagan's enemies said, at length, that he was a racist, that he had -- that he favored the cue clux clan. they said he wasn't serious, he wasn't smart. they downgraded his intelligence. i mean, all of those kind of things have been said in one way or another about donald trump. particularly that ronald reagan was a racist. and to be perfectly candid, michael, i took a look, if you type in racist and then next to
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it, the words ted cruz, marco rubio, mitt romney, rush limbaugh, you name the republican or conservative, you will find that this is more or less the go-to more the american left with all these people, so, donald trump is really just the latest -- >> i think the criticism comes from more than the left. and as a matter of fact, speaking of which, because i don't put myself on the american left, my mother this week said, you be nice to that jeffrey lord, and she was talking about a moment that you and i had last tuesday night. let's watch. >> there's a question that donald trump can't answer, which is, if he believes that this gentleman is biased against him, why hasn't his legal team gone to court, followed the process and filed a recusal motion? >> how many times over the years have we heard about the policety sags of the police and the judiciary from liberals? what did we hear about ferguson, baltimore? >> that's not an answer. respectdly, you're a pen
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pennsylvani pennsylvanian, i love you, but why hasn't the motion been filed? >> this man is a lifetime member -- >> then put it in a plead -- >> he's running for president of the united states. are we going to have a judiciary that is infected by racial politics? >> okay -- >> if i had a discrimination case and judge van jones were presiding, hell, he's a black guy, he can't treat me fairly. if the case involved the catholic church, paul, i would say, you must recuse yourself, we know where you worship on sunday. who is left to serve if on that thin basis -- >> this is the point -- >> donald trump gets away with this. >> this is the point, michael. this is exactly the point. this is what the american left has done to the judiciary, to police. >> come on. >> universities. >> you're too smart for that. >> you just heard michael reagan. he brought up judge curiel. i didn't like your answer tuesday night. i'm giving you a second chance. >> well, first of all, let me just say, as you know, i'm not a lawyer, i'll leave the lawyering to the lawyers, but michael,
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you've been busy as we've been doing this, but i can tell you right before i sat down to talk to you, rabby michael learner was giving a eulogy for muhammad ali, and in that jewely, eulog talked about how many racist judges were sending black people to jail. this is standard, you know, stuff, on the left. so, when donald trump touches on it, suddenly they go ballistic, but point of fact, this is said over and over and over again. and that's the problem here. >> and what i'm saying is, take the litigation into the courtroom and off the soap box. if he has reason to disqualify this judge he should file a rescual motion. that's it. >> right. i understand your point. but what i'm saying is, this issue goes far beyond donald trump in this case. this issue, i mean, the lawyers are going to do what they're going to do. i understand you are asking for the legal solution here. i'm saying, there's a massive political problem here that involves the legal system and a lot of other areas of our
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society here. and, frankly, michael, that we have these discussions at this point is a very healthy thing. i think we need to get this out. >> jeffrey lord, thank you. you are a better spokesman for him than he is for himself. >> thank you, my friend. see you soon. up next, you heard about trump university, but have you ever heard of a university that needed to school its employees with lessons in psychology just to sell admissions? it reminds me of glen gary glen ross. >> put that coffee down. coffee's for closers only. the good news is, you're fired. you've got all you've got just one week to regain your jobs, starting with tonight. starting with tonight's sit. oh. have i got your attention now? ♪ i'm going to make this as simple as possible for you. you can go ahead and stick with that complicated credit card
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college is supposed to be something good for your bio. but trump university may end up being the most damning thing on donald trump's resume. the judge he criticized is presiding over a pair of class action lawsuits seeking to sort out the facts. trump's ads for the seminars bragged, i can turn anyone into a successful real estate investor. but this university seems to have a pretty pressurized admission process. watch former employee james harris explain. >> actually, i started doing what they call the free workshops, where they ran an ad, people show up to a two to three-hour seminar, which is free, there's no charge, and then at the end of that small little event, if you would like to further your education, you know, at trump university, you would pay a certain amount of money, $1,500 and you are going to go to the three-day event, happening the next weekend,
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immediately. so, it was very quick to create urgency, so people showed up. >> to create urgency. hmm. joining me now to talk more about these tactics is psychiatrist gale salts. sounds like selling land in the poconos, not gaining admission to a university. >> that's an excellent point. and really, that is what begs the question. so, it's, you know, sales tactics, p.r., branding, that's been around a very long time. in fact, p. rp origr. originate edward burr naz, who was the nephew of sigmund freud who understand and took psychology and used it to sway people's minds for the purpose of business. and, so, businesses all do that. they may not do that realizing they're using psychology, and that's what they're doing. and that's fine. but when you marry that to the term university, you give it a different kind of umph, right?
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university implies a place of higher education, usually a nonprofit institution that has all kinds of checks and balances to ensure a kind of honesty and not a sale. so, that trump university sounds very different psychologically to someone than trump used car sales lot where it would be the buyer beware. instead, people think that they must be getting something that's very moral and therefore, they're not being -- they're not being sold something in the same way. >> well, the level of sophistication, with which these students were sold their process of being admitted to trump university, is something i want the audience to appreciate. i'm going to put up on the screen, this is one of the documents donald trump isn't happy was released, per sunt to a request by "the washington post." here's a memo, "the art of the set." here it is on the screen. "this sales process is based on managing the emotions of the client by focusing on the
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psychology of the sale." flip ahead. i want to show gail. the roller coaster of emotions. gail. these are instructions for the people seeking to sell admissions to trump university students. look at that. the intro phase, one to five minutes, the blast, three to five minutes, the probe, the goals, the commit. it lays out with sophistication how you reel somebody into the university. >> again, you know, if they were selling you a house, an object of art, a household item, you wouldn't really be surprised by this, right? the idea that they would try to engage you, they would say this item is going to fulfill your wishes, oh, wait, you might not be able to get this item unless you spend a lot of money. so maybe your dreams are dashed. oh, no, let's rise back up again, because we found a path for you. and you are toying with the idea of their future. are they going to be able to make their hopes and treatmentde true? no, they're going to be dashed. if they max out their credit
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cards, they might have the promise of this future. that is very galvanizing for people. that's emotionally hard to resist. >> well, i'm glad that you voiced it the way that you did, because i had radio callers who said to me when i read from this, michael, don't be so naive, this is sales, this is the way it is. gail, thank you, as always. >> my pleasure. still to come, an infamous crime, 50 years ago, when nobody helped a young female murder victim, it became a symbol of urban about think. but a new movie casts doubt about what we thought we knew about the death of kitty genovese. >> exactly what was it you heard? >> "save me, save me." >> didn't this frighten you or shock you? >> no. >> i was 16 when my sister kitty was murdered in new york city. for years, i avoided the details of that night. but it's worse not knowing the truth. i'd like to make a dep--
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uh, no. just steve. just steve. just steve. live business, powered by sap. when you run live, you run simple. wi probably got that question 3 to 4 times a week. i'd always get asked if i was asian or moroccan or something else. so i jumped at the chance to take the dna test through ancestry. and my results ended up being african, european and asian. it just confirmed what i guess people had seen in me all my life. i do feel like ancestry helped give me a sense of identity. "what are you?" now i know.
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america was riveted this week by the upsetting case of brock turner, the swimmer convicted of a rape of an unconscious woman and sentenced to only six months in jail. if there was anything at all positive about this story, it was the fact that the crime was discovered and halted by two heroic stanford students from sweden. they were cycling past when they saw the crime being committed and when turner tried to flee, they tackled and pinned him down until police arrived and arrested him. their heroics in apprehending the stanford rapist reminded me of a famous murder case 50 years ago that came to symbolize a world when people didn't care when bad things happen and they didn't get involved. to this day, it remains the subject of psychological studies. but it turns out the story is more complicated than we were led to believe. at:00 a.m. on march 13th, 1964, kitty genovese was brutally
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tabbta stabbed to death in queens, new york. in a front page story "the new york times" reported that 37 witnesses either saw or heard the attack. the headline said they saw it, and not one lifted a finger. but now comes a documentary called "the witness," the work of kitty's younger brother, bill. he was 16 at the time, and filmmaker james solomon. and their work, 11 years in the making, reveals that history got this one wrong. >> when my mom tried to open the door, it hit kitty and she was facing her head towards the door, her feet towards the stairs and my mother had to push the door in to get in. she held her and she could feel her stab wounds in her back and her hands kept going, still fighting. and my mom finally calmed her down. but she couldn't talk, and she started to gurgle. that was her, she was just passing then, she was dying.
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so -- hours later, i open the door and the whole bottom of this foyer was blood. >> joining me now, bill genovese and james solomon. so, bill, what did history get wrong? >> michael, the most shocking thing that history got wrong was, two weeks after kitty's murder, there was a front page "new york times" article which started out describing the situation this way. 38 people watched over the course of a half an hour, and did nothing. 38 people did not watch. the attack took place in two different phases, one was on austin street and the other was in the back of apartments. it took, did take place over 30, 32 minutes, something like that, but 38 people certainly did not watch over that time span. >> they didn't stand by. because we just showed the clip, michael ferrar's mother.
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you interviewed her in a very poignant scene in the movie. your sister died in her arms. >> of course, it was over the course of 32 minutes and when sophia first found out, it was at the end of her life. it was after the second attack, which was really the fatal attack. >> was this done, then, to sell newspapers? i have the headline in my hand. 37 who saw murder didn't call the police. >> some have said that. i myself don't believe that. i think a.m. rosenthal thought he had an important story to tell and got it out that way. the police chief at the time was talking to a.m., who had come back from overseas, he was now the city editor. he wanted to get the know the city a little better and the police chief said to him, problem the police are having, citizens aren't cooperating. then, later on, he said, wait until you hear this one and he told him the story is, he knew it, of 38 people watching.
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>> james, in the movie, there's a line that bill delivers, when he says, my sister was so much more than her final 30 minutes and we're showing images of kitty as we're speaking. the home movies were priceless and a part in telling the story of who she was. >> that's bill and kitty's uncle andy, he was a gadget guy in the '50s and he let his family use the film camera and they went out and shot some incredible home movies. really, it's love story. a sibling love story about a brother reclaiming his sister's life from her infamous death. >> it's not only that, but two stories in one. it's a story of your resilience. the audience. you are a sleuth who is unstoppable in trying to get the answer for what happened those many years ago i'm watching and
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appreciative of the detective work you're doing and i'm looking, saying, my god, how is he able to get this done? >> well, we can blame it on kitty and blame it on the fact that i never wanted to play for the j.v. you have to be in the game or sit on the sidelines, so, my sister instilled in me a desire to find things out. she would answer my questions. that's a big mistake for the kid. because then it's more and more questions, so, and if she couldn't answer it, it's like, find it out, go to the library. >> you wanted to meet her killer. he died this past april. >> yeah. >> winston mosley. he died at age 1881. what would you have said to him? >> i would have said, winston, i've been writing letters to the parole board, saying, you should not be released, and why. i want to hear from you why you think you should be released and what's life been like for you? i'm curious. >> were you prepared to forgive him? >> i was prepared to feel what i
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felt when i talked to him. see what came out of that. >> j the block welcomes virtually the same as it did then and that you were able to go back to so many primary source individuals apds learn a story we thought we knew. >> only the sign agehas changed. nobody would have been permitted the kind of access this film was permitted. i think a lot of people thought they owed it to kitty. they only did so because of bill. >> the witness is being shown this weekend on the block where it happened and hopefully a wider release is open to take place. i wish you all good things about this. i can't say i liked it, that seems improper. i was engrossed by it a tremendous job done. >> thank you. >> why chris christie should
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♪ no, you're not gonna watch it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download on the goooooo! ♪ ♪ you'll just have to miss it! ♪ yeah, you'll just have to miss it! ♪ ♪ we can't let you download... uh, no thanks. i have x1 from xfinity so... don't fall for directv. xfinity lets you download your shows from anywhere. i used to like that song.
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finally this question, why won't christie call out crazy, in the controversy donald trump caused of criticism of a federal judge chris christie would not criticize trump. >> i've known donald trump for 14 years and donald trump is not a racist. so the allegations that he is are absolutely contrary to every experience that i've had with him over the last 14 years. >> in sharp contrast to christie, speaker paul rine says that judge curiel's statements were quote a racist comment. it was about how he handled a
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similar situation then it was christie who received harsh criticism after he appointed a muslim lawyer to the new jersey superior court. they voiced unfounded -- that they might rely on sha rria law. this law is crazy, i'm tired of the allegations. >> he was said an extraordinary e american. he says ignorance is behind muhammad. and he said he was tired of dealing with the crazies. too bad chris christie is unwilling to say the same thing about the presidential candidate he now supports.
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trump's criticism of judge curiel is just as unfounded as that was levelled against now judge muhammad. follow me at twitter@sker -- twitter@smer coniche. >> great to have you this saturday afternoon. i'm poppy harlow, it is down to two runners in the presumptive nominees, donald trump is doing what he has defying for being unfair and hammering former nominee mitt romney. >> it is
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