david barstow and david cay johnston.e will be back with them in a moment. ♪ [music break] amy: "many rivers to cross." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we are talking about donald trump's taxes with two pulitzer prize-winning journalist, david barstow of "the new york times" who led the investigation into donald trump's tax records, and david cay johnston. david barstow, in july, wrote a piece for "the new york times" where trump was the beneficiary of miraculously well-timed memory lapses. you write "such was the case for mr. trump held a level lawsuit against timothy o'brien, the author of trump nation, the art of being the donald. among other things, mr. trump asserted that trump nation cost him a deal made in heaven with a group of italian investors, many have met them on the brink of signing a business partnership that would have made him hundreds of millions of dollars. there were names he could not recall." david barstow? >> that is a pretty good paragraph. >> ye

david barstow, he flew down to florida to meet the accountant. they met at a bagel shop and at the bagel shop the accountant explained those hinky digits. the computer program he was using back in 1995, it apparently couldn't fit on to that line on the form all of the digits necessary to declare donald trump's declared loss of $916 million so he used his typewriter, his ibm typewriter to manually add in that hyphen as a minus sign followed by the first two numbers. he verified the documents overall, not incidentally, quote, he stabbed his finger into the document and said this is legit. all at the counter of a bagel shop. i should tell you, untoasted, that the trump campaign did not reply to "the new york times" request for a formal comment about that story. they issued a separate statement which they didn't confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents but argued that the "alleged tax document was illegal obtained" and that donald trump has paid a lot of other taxes over the years. i think that means we can score that as a scoop for "the new

david barstow, one of the reporters i worked with went down to see jaock and had a lon discussion and it is legitimate. >> when you see a story like this in the front page o f the time, weeks of work had to check it out. let me check to see what fox news say about this. >> a bold news trying to take down donald trump claiming that he had not paid taxes in years. the evidence and how they got it raised a lot of questions this morning. >> raising a lot of questions. so fox had some doubts about your sources but they're saying that you are trying to take down donald trump, is that what you are doing? >> it is an incredible important issue, there is pressure on him to release his tax returns. i think it is called reporting, it is simple as that. >> you think fox does not understand that? >> we are doing our job and part of that is to look things like donald trump tactics and defi defining whether he has paid taxes or not. it is an important issue and that's what we do. >> there was a legal threat before you published this story, i have been asking the trump foundation if they'll follow th

and david barstow went down to see jack and had a long discussion about the taxes and jack said they're legitimate. >> in other words, when you see a story like this on the front page of "the times," weeks of work had to go into this. this is what fox news said this morning. and then your reaction. >> a bold move from "the new york times" trying to take down donald trump with a front page story claiming that he's not paid taxes in years. but the evidence and how they got it raising a lot of questions this morning. >> raising a lot of questions. so fox had some doubts about your sourcing but said you're trying to take down donald trump. is that what you're doing? >> i think he's running for president and whether or not he's paid taxes, it's an important issue. there's pressure on him to release his tax returns. i think it's called reporting. it's as simple as that. >> you think fox doesn't understand that? >> i think i guess they have an opinion. we think we're doing our jobs, and part of that is to look for things like donald trump's taxes and find indications whether he's paid taxes or

trump's tax claimed 916 million dollars in losses - after several of his businesses went bankrupt (david barstow/ nyt reporter) >> donald trump has made his business career the calling card of his campaign. jamie yuccas cbs reporter: >> trump is threatening to sue the newspaper for what he insists is "illegally obtained" material. jamie yuccas cbs reporter: >> over the weekend -- he sought to keep the spotlight on rival hillary clinton and her alleged criticism of bernie (donald trump) >> a new audiotape shows her demeaning and mocking bernie sanders and all of his supporters. -nats/sot-in here we are called to confront injustice jamie yuccas cbs reporter: >> the democratic nominee had this veiled jab for trump while courting black voters in north carolina yesterday: (hillary clinton) >> "there are some out there who see this as a moment to fan the flames of resentment and division//they say all of our problems would be solved simply by more law and order as if the systemic racism plaguingu sunday clinton picked up an endorsement from cleveland cavaliers star, lebron james. jamie yuccas cbs news

susanne craig and david barstow. thank you very much. >>> we reported last week how a lack of oversight allows police officers with questionable backgrounds to find work at new departments. ahead and only on "cbs this morning," de marco morgan asked out of the northwest and that is feeling cool. ............ windy weekend.... and now the payoff is the cooldown. ........... mostly sunny today and highs just into the mid 70s.... and then slowly warming up through the week getting back to mid 80s by next weekend./// announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by liberty mutual insurance. >>> melting ice is changing the earth. ahead, "60 minutes" was in the arctic when the u.s. nuclear submarine surfaced to the ice. we'll talk to lesley stahl reporting from one of the most hospitable regions. you're watching "cbs this morning." we'll be right back. my sweethearts gone sayonara. this scarf all thats left to remem... what! she washed this like a month ago (vo) stank face. an expression of disgust caused by inad

susanne craig and david barstow.t week how a lack of oversight allows police officers with questionable ackgrounds to find work at new departments. ahead and only on "cbs this orning," de marco morgan asked attorney g >>> good morning from the kpix studios in san francisco. grab an umbrella, light rain in the forecast and this is the scene toward mount diablo we are clouded up. rain showers across the north bay, the santa rosa area with up to .1 inches expected and temperatures in the 50s with a few 40s and later, highs in the 60s with blue skies for the blue angels on friday. announcer: this portion of "cbs this morning" sponsored by liberty mutual insurance. liberty stands with you. >>> melting ice is changing the earth. ahead, "60 minutes" was in the arctic when the u.s. nuclear submarine surfaced to the ice. we'll talk to lesley stahl reporting from one of the most hospitable regions. you're watching "cbs this morning." we'll be right back. my sweethearts gone sayonara. this scarf all thats left to remem... what!

reporter susanne craig and david barstow. >> i was walking by my mailbox. i check it frequently. i looked in. there was a from trump tower. >> so to have them tumble out of an envelope, your first reaction really is scepts similar. >> reporter: in february, trump bragged to us about not paying taxes. you work very hard to pay the least amount of taxes? >> yeah, i want the pay the least amount possible. >> reporter: trump also said this when hillary clinton raised his tax history at last monday's debate: >> he didn't pay any federal income tax, so -- >> that makes me smart. >> reporter: today new york attorney general eric supporter, ordered trump's charitable foundation to stop soliciting contributions in new york because it is not properly registered with the state. schneiderman is also investigating charges trump used charitable funds for personal gain. trump's campaign said the foundation will comply with the order. earlier today in northern virginia, trump was asked about mental hillary clinton for veterans and said those who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder areot s

joining me now are new york times reporters david barstow and susanne craig. i'm pleased to have them. i just saw them several moments ago on cbs this morning it is good you come back and tell this story again. what would we learn if we knew what his nabbing tax, that he says is being audited, what would we learn about him from that? >> oh, gosh, we would learn so many different things. i mean first of all, we learn fundamentally, is he paying federal income taxes. what is the rate. has he given to charity, beyond that, we learn an awful lot about the income or losses flowing to him from all of his var yaws pirps. >> rose: we learn who he owes money too. >> there say whole ton of things that you can learn, especially from a tax return filed by donald trump. >> rose: is there a consensus as to what they think the reason he's with holding the income tax returns? >> you know, from my reporting, the leadinger in ree is that he wasn't paying federal income taxes, primarily because when are you a real estate developer, there is no better autopsy to be in this countr

joining me now to explain all this is one of the article's authors, david barstow. this is a team effort at the "new york times," three or four people worked on this. how do we know from you just have basically three documents that you've made public. how do we know that he declared this loss and it could have impacted his income going forward. >> well, we took a number of steps, first of all the documents were mailed to us anonymously, and so we spent an awful lot of time and effort trying to authenticate the documents. we finally succeeded in doing that and we were able to present them to donald trump's tax accountant at the time, the man who had spent 30 years or more doing donald trump's taxes. and after talking to him at length and doing some additional reporting, we came to believe that these were indeed the real thing. and also, today i believe, the trump campaign has effectively confirmed the validity of these returns. haven't challenged any of the members, in fact his surrogates are saying that this shows his genius at figuring out how to avoid paying taxes

reporters susan craig and david barstow. i i checked it. an envelope from the trump tower. >> to have them tumble out of an envelope, your first reaction is skepticism. >> reporter: in february trump bragged to us. about not paying taxes. you work hard to pay the least amount of taxes? >> i want to pay the least amount. >> reporter: trump said when clinton raised his tax history at last monday's debate. >> he didn't pay any federal income tax. >> that makes me smart. >> today, eric snyderman, a trump's charitable foundation to stop soliciting contributions in new york because it is not properly registered with the state. schneiderman is investigating charges trump used charitable funds for personal gain. trump's campaign send the foundation will comply with the order. earlier today in northern virginia trump was asked about mental health care for veterans and said those who suffer from post-traumatic stress are not as strong as those who do not. scott for years veterans groups have tried to erase the stigma of weakness once associated with

reporter susan craig and david barstow. >> walking by my mailbox. i check it frequently. i looked in. there was an envelope addressed from trump tower. >> so to have them tumble out of an envelope, you know, your first reaction, really is skepticism. >> reporter: in february, trump bragged to us about not paying taxes. >> you worked very hard to pay the least amount of taxes? >> yeah, i want to pay the least amount possible. >> reporter: trump said this debate. >> he didn't pay any federal income tax. >> that makes me smart. >> today new york attorney general, eric schneiderman, clinton supporter, ordered the trump foundation to stop soliciting contributions in new york because it is not properly registered with the state. schneiderman is investigating charges trump used funds for personal gain. trump said the foundation will comply with the order. her campaign rushed a new tv ad on to the airwaves. and clinton told supporters trump has taken corporate excess and made a business out of it. nancy cordes reports. >> what kind of genius lose a billion dollars in a single yea

and the big breakthrough came midweek when our colleague david barstow traveled to florida and actually met with trump's accountant, a man whose signature was on one of the forms we received and prepared his taxes in 1995 a can confirm that, yes, in fact, the records are legitimate. >> russ, trump's attorney is threatening to sue here because he says trump did not authorize the disclosure. does the attorney have a case? >> not as far as our attorneys are concerned. you steal a document like that but opening your mailbox is not a crime. >> trump has said when confronted with the possibility that he may not have paid m smart.income taxes, that makes from the perspective of a businessman, does he have a case there? >> it's open to judgment. it's a line of tax avoidance that is open to people in partnerships and he would be smart if he had access to do it. i think people who -- a paychecks a portion of them go to the federal every week whether they do anything or not might view that differently. >> russ, thank you. megan, thank you. appreciate you coming in this morning. over to you. >> jus

marla maples and donald trump and jack mittnick, his former accountant and david barstow, one of the reporters i worked with went down to see jacques and had a long discussion about the taxes and he said they are legitimate. >> when you see a story like this on the front page of the "timsz", weeks of week had to go into checking this out. let me show you what fox news said early this morning and get your reaction. >> a bold move from "the new york times" trying to take down donald trump with a front page story claiming he has not paid taxes for years. but the evidence and how they got it raising a lot of questions this morning. >> fox had doubts about your sourcing but they also said you're trying to take down donald trump. is that what you're doing? >> i think his taxes whether or not he paid taxes or not, it's incredibly important. there's pressure to release the tax returns. it's called reporting, simple as that. >> do you think fox doesn't understand that? >> i think i guess they have an opinion. we think we're doing our jobs and part of that is to look for things like donald tru

but right now, we are joined by suzanne craig and david barstow. tell us how it began. ten daps ago, you got a letter. >>? it was a week ago last friday. roughly ten days ago. it was friday afternoon. i was on a deadline for another story and i swung by my mailbox. i usually do every day and there somebody in the trump organization and i opened it and there were several pages of donald trump's tax returns in it. >> the return address was trump tower. do you have evidence it was from trump to you center. >> that is what the return address said and we started to unravel who it might have been and who could confirm it. >> david that is when you went down to florida and actually found trump's accountant from the time? >> yeah, obviously a big concern for us, can docume documents? it's a small circle of people do that. one of those is jack mintic who served as trump's accountant for many decades. soy presented what had been sent to us and asked him to take a look. and he looked at them and said, >> let's talk about what they show enter don't show. you can't say for sure whet

i was skeptical, poring over it and got a call made to david barstow whom i have been working on trump-relatedtuff. he hung up. we went into a room and tried to see how we could verify them and see the flaws and just to understand them. verify and disprove all at the same time. >> have you figured out where they came from? >> they were addressed from the trump tower. we were able to separately verify them on the record via the accountant who signed them jack mittnik. >> but you don't know who was the anonymous donor, if you will? >> usually i ask the questions. i hate it when people say no comment to me, but i have to give no comment. >> i'm just asking if you were able to verify who sent them to you. >> we are not commenting on that. >> okay. in terms of how you frame the story, oiously a lot of work went into how you decided to write the story, the headline and all the rest. how can you infer from this tax return, the three pages what he may or may not have done in terms of paying federal taxes in subsequent years? >> we know the number which is almost a billion dollars. $915.7 million loss

trump's tax return are with us put nope reporter susanne craig discovered copies senior writer david barstow found the tax attorney. >> the two join us at the table. so much to discuss. welcome to you both. take us there, susanne. you go to your mailbox and see this document and you think what? >> i looked at it and it said -- had a return address from the trump tower. i got, you know, like what is this? i opened it and it looked what appeared to be three pages of donald trump'sax and i'm just sort of staring at it going this can't be true. i was on a phone call. i hung up from the person i was talking to and i walked over to david's desk who was on the phone and i showed it to him. he just hung up the phone. we just went into a room and just sort of looking at them. it was both like we couldn't believe it. and also we need to figure out if we can verify this at the same time. there was like this and can we verify this all at the same time. and make sure we can go ahead with this? >> i think we as reporters felt that way. we had to just start to figure it out and see if, a, get somebody to v