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Trump: 'Mexican' Judge Biased; Clinton Say Trump Not Qualified for President; Donald Trump Calls American Judge Biased on Trump University Case; Michelle Obama Takes on Trump; North Korea Showcases Sons of U.S. Defector. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired June 03, 2016 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TAPPER: -- California. I'm Jake Tapper. This Sunday morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," my interviews with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, plus, we will add Bernie Sanders to the mix. That's 9 a.m. and noon Eastern.
I turn you over now to Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news. Poor judgment? Donald Trump lashes out at a judge overseeing the Trump University fraud cases, suggesting he's biased because of his Mexican heritage. Latino voters are fuming; Republican leaders are squirming.
No let-up. Hillary Clinton steps up her blistering attacks on Trump, saying he's not qualified to be commander in chief. But has Trump found Clinton's Achilles heel his attacks on her e-mail scandal? We're going to hear from both candidates this hour. This is a CNN exclusive.
American advisers. As local forces step up offenses against ISIS, the U.S. military is stepping up its role on the ground. CNN now learned that another 250 U.S. advisers and trainers, they are heading into Syria.
And un-Americans. In a bizarre propaganda effort, Kim Jong-un's regime shows off the adult sons of an American defector who've lived their entire lives in North Korea and vow absolute loyalty to their communist homeland.
I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
BLITZER: The breaking news: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they're answering the bell for round two. Clinton today is picking up where she left off.
Twenty-four hours after her blistering and methodical takedown of Donald Trump, Clinton says Trump is not qualified to be commander in chief, and she says he's partly to blame for violent protests surrounding his rallies.
Trump is hitting right back. But while he hammers Hillary Clinton, saying she should go to jail, he's also been lashing out at Latinos, saying the judge in his Trump University fraud case is inherently biased because he is, quote, "Mexican."
And Trump is now seeking the backing of New Mexico's Latino Republican governor after repeatedly insulting her.
We have exclusive interviews with the two leading presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. They each sit down with CNN's Jake Tapper. You'll hear them this hour. That's only here on CNN.
And in an extraordinary propaganda display, Kim Jong-un's regime brings out two adult sons of an American defector. They've pledged their loyalty to North Korea, the only country they've ever known.
I'll talk with Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of all the day's top stories.
Donald Trump is continuing to infuriate many Latinos and fellow Republicans with his harsh rhetoric. Let's begin with our senior political reporter, Manu Raju.
Manu, Donald Trump is facing growing fallout.
MANU RAJU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Wolf. Republican leaders say that, in order to win in November, they need to reverse their slide that they've experienced with Latino voters in recent elections. And many top Republicans believe that Trump's comments about the New Mexico governor and a Mexican-American federal judge simply aren't helping things.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: Tonight, Donald Trump lashing back at Hillary Clinton and dismissing GOP fears that his comments angering Latino voters will sink his candidacy.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have people with weak temperaments. I have a very strong temperament, but I have a temperament that's totally under control.
RAJU: Trump's latest remarks, accusing Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who's overseeing one of the lawsuits against the now-defunct Trump University, of treating him unfairly because the judge, born in America, is of Mexican descent, prompting backlash among Republicans who fear it will make their standing with Hispanics even worse.
REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE (via phone): Look, the comment about the judge the other day just was out of left field from my mind, it's reasoning I don't relate to. I completely disagree with the thinking behind that.
TRUMP: Our leadership is good.
RAJU: In an interview airing this Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Jake Tapper, Trump said it was fair game. TRUMP: This judge is giving us unfair rulings. Now I say, "Why?"
Well, I want to -- I'm building a wall, OK? And it's a wall between Mexico, not another country.
TAPPER: He's not from Mexico. He's from Indiana.
TRUMP: In my opinion, he's Mexican heritage.
RAJU: The GOP share of the Latino vote has dropped sharply since 2004, when George W. Bush carried 40 percent of Hispanics. In 2008, John McCain carried just 31 percent of the Hispanic vote, four points higher than Mitt Romney's support in 2012.
And a recent poll found Clinton leading Trump 62 to 23 with Latino voters. But nearly three-quarters of Hispanics holding a negative view of the GOP standard bearer.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: I think the attacks that he's routinely engaged in, for example, going after Susana Martinez, the Republican governor of New Mexico, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association, I think it was a big mistake.
[17:05:02] RAJU: While campaigning in New Mexico late last month, Trump unleashed a scathing attack on Martinez after she skipped his event. She is one of the highest-ranking Hispanic GOP officials in the country.
TRUMP: She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going!
She was not nice and I was fine, just a little bit of a jab. But she wasn't nice, and you think I'm going to change? I'm not changing, including with her.
RAJU: But now Trump is changing his tune, telling the "Santa Fe New Mexican" that he wants the governor's endorsement.
Latino anger toward Trump as boiled over amid his hardline rhetoric, where he has labeled many undocumented immigrants as rapists, vowing to deport millions of people here illegally and build a wall on the border with Mexico.
TRUMP: We're going to build that wall. Don't even think about it. And who's going to pay for the wall?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico!
TRUMP: Who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico! UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mexico!
RAJU: Outside the San Jose rally, protests, with many waving Mexico flags turning violent. But Trump thinks Latinos will reward him this fall.
TRUMP: I love that. Latinos, we're doing well with the Latinos. Nobody knows about it yet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: Now, Trump held a raucous rally just a few moments ago in Reading, California, where he continued his war of words with Hillary Clinton, calling her pathetic and said she should be in jail over her use of a private e-mail server when serving as secretary of state. And at the end of the day, Trump's advisors, Wolf, believe that this will be a popularity contest of sorts, and that Hillary Clinton will be less popular, Wolf.
BLITZER: Manu Raju, thanks for that report.
The candidates, they are in California. Hillary Clinton hoping to nail down the nomination even before the votes are counted in California in Tuesday's primary. But she's focusing in on Donald Trump right now.
Let's go to our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar. She's in California. So far, no let-up at all in these attacks, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, that's right, Wolf. Following on that scathing speech that she gave yesterday in San Diego, Hillary Clinton today saying that Donald Trump is unfit temperamentally to be president and also accused him of inciting and congratulating violence at his rallies, as she has all but claimed the Democratic nomination.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Hillary Clinton stumping in California with the nomination in sight.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And then, starting next Tuesday, we're on our way to breaking the highest and hardest glass ceiling.
KEILAR: Four days before voters go to the polls, Clinton sat down for an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper, slamming Donald Trump.
CLINTON: He is not qualified to be commander in chief. Neither by experience, preparation or temperament.
KEILAR: She's taking her new mocking approach to Trump on the road.
CLINTON: I really am looking forward to debating him. You know, I mean, when somebody says that one of his main foreign policy credentials is that he took the Miss Universe pageant to Russia, I'm looking forward to that conversation.
KEILAR: A criticism she debuted Thursday in a major foreign policy speech that has her tangling with Trump.
TRUMP: Her phony speech, that was a phony speech. That was a Donald Trump hit job. I will say this: Hillary Clinton has to go to jail. OK? She has to go to jail. Has to go. That was a phony hit job. She's guilty as hell.
KEILAR: As Clinton targets Trump University, a now defunct real- estate program that has landed Trump in court over allegations of fraud, he's questioning the integrity of her family's foundation.
TAPPER: And I'm not equating Trump University with the Clinton Foundation, but do you think those questions undermined at all your argument against the Trump Foundation [SIC] -- Trump University?
CLINTON: No. Not at all. I mean, really, this is like an absurd comparison. We have disclosed everything. You can see what we do.
The attorney general of New York has said that Trump U. is basically a fraud. It's a fraud where Donald Trump has preyed on people, has taken them by asking them to max out their credit cards to a point of financial despair and walked away.
I think it's very clear, even from the testimony we've already heard about from his close associates, that even people working in it call it fraudulent. And, you know, look, he has to answer to that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Now, Hillary Clinton has actually taken the stage here in Westminster in her second of four events here today, Wolf, in California.
She's been engaging, though, in a back and forth on Twitter with Donald Trump today. He responded to her speech yesterday, calling her Crooked Hillary and accusing her of making up things that he said in the speech.
[17:10:04] She responded not long after by saying, "You literally said all those things." And she tweeted a list of quotes by Donald Trump and then later a video of the things that she accused -- or she highlighted that he said in her speech yesterday, Wolf.
BLITZER: Brianna Keilar reporting for us in California. Brianna, thanks very much.
Let's get some more on all of this. Joining us now, one of Donald Trump's key supporters: Scottie Nell Hughes.
Scottie, thanks very much for joining us.
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Happy Friday, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you. A day after saying he'd endorse Donald Trump, vote for Donald Trump,
the House Speaker Paul Ryan now says he completely disagreed with Donald Trump's attacks on this federal judge in California, Gonzalo Curiel. Trump had the opportunity to clean all of this up today in that interview with Jake, but he doubled down in going after this federal judge. Is that a mistake?
HUGHES: Well, let's look at it. First of all, just because Paul Ryan says that he disagreed with one of the steps that Mr. Trump has taken doesn't mean that he is disavowing his entire presidency. Yesterday he was very smart. It was great to have the speaker endorse Mr. Trump.
And might I point out, it was at the beginning of Hillary Clinton's speech. And if you looked on social media at the time, that was getting just as much attention as some of Hillary Clinton's lines that she was delivering in her speech.
And if you look at everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, sure, people like Mitch McConnell, people like Speaker Ryan might not like certain parts of Mr. Trump. And they'll probably continue not to like certain parts. But the end result is they're still going to vote for him. They're still going to support him.
And that is something that is very important to Mr. Trump. He doesn't pander to politicians, Wolf. He panders to the people.
BLITZER: But Scottie, do you support these attacks by Donald Trump on this federal judge, saying he is not fair, he is not -- he is -- he is biased because of his, quote, "Mexican heritage"?
HUGHES: Well, I think that the judge is biased. He is a judge that was appointed by President Obama, and he's been very sporadic in regards to this case. He sat there and unsealed documents, then sealed them, then unsealed them again.
And you want to sit there and look at bias, he does sit -- he is a part of a Hispanic lawyer's counsel that might be separate from the more radical group. However, he has actually -- he has been awarded scholarships to illegal citizens here in the United States. So he definitely has some sort of sympathy for illegals that are here in this country.
So there has to be some sort of bias. I would possibly use different phrasing than Mr. Trump. But once again, this is another type of mudslinging that's being thrown at Mr. Trump that's not necessarily all clear. You have issues like the actual prosecutors in the case. Six hundred...
BLITZER: You can disagree with some of his rulings in the case without calling into question his motive because of his Mexican heritage.
HUGHES: Well, you have to wonder if, necessarily, when you look at it, that this is all politically motivated and why is this all coming out right now when you're down to basically the front-runner of the Democratic Party versus a Republican?
You cannot deny that that timing of this is nothing but political.
And when you're looking at the prosecutor in this case -- and by the way, the attorney general who is also a Democrat -- the prosecutors in this case, that law firm taking, I think it's about $675,000 they paid to Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton as recently for speeches in 2014, you have to look at this as a whole context, that this is politically motivated...
BLITZER: Scottie...
HUGHES: ... and that we're not in an election year with him being a Republican, we would not probably even have this in any of our headlines.
BLITZER: Why didn't Donald Trump's lawyers, then, if he feels this judge is not fair, why didn't they ask that he recuse himself or remove himself from this case? Legally, they never did that.
HUGHES: I think that would have been a very smart decision. I think that might have been an error in my own personal opinion of Mr. Trump's lawyers. But for some reason they didn't, and so now we're going to continue to have this fight.
The question, Wolf, is as we're sitting here talking about, you know, Trump University and whether or not it's a scam. Now, obviously, if you sit there and you look at it, you have people on both sides of the issue. Some think it's great. Some think it was legitimate. Some think it's not. You have to -- and I think that's why Mr. Trump is bringing up all of the e-mail controversy with the Clinton Global Initiative and you're sitting here going -- if you're going to sit here and you're going to scrutinize Trump University, a for-profit private citizen organization, versus a government entity that was taking more than $40 million from foreign governments while Ms. Clinton was secretary of state...
BLITZER: Hold on a second, Scottie.
HUGHES: ... you need to -- apply to both.
BLITZER: What's the government entity you're talking about?
HUGHES: Well, you're looking at -- I'm sorry, $20 million that were taken from governments that involved, whether it's giving a fee that was...
BLITZER: Money going to the Clinton Global Initiative?
HUGHES: Going to the Clinton Global Initiative.
BLITZER: All right. All right. Stand by, Scottie. Stand by, Scottie. We're going to continue this conversation. We have to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:18:52] BLITZER: Let's get back to the breaking news. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they're continuing their bitter slug fest, and they have been doing it right here on CNN. Both candidates sat down today with CNN's Jake Tapper for exclusive interviews. Clinton was asked about some of the stunning scenes of violence outside those Donald Trump rallies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLINTON: I condemn all violence in our political arena. I condemned it when Donald Trump was inciting it and congratulating people who were engaging in it. I condemn it by those who are taking violent protests to physical assault against Donald Trump. This has to end.
He set a very bad example. He created an environment in which it seemed to be acceptable. For someone running for president to be inciting violence, to be encouraging his supporters. Now we're seeing people who were against him responding in kind. It should all stop. It is not acceptable.
TAPPER: At the end of the day, do you think that those violent anti- Trump protesters actually might be helping him in a way by -- by showing his opposition in such a horrendous light?
CLINTON: I don't think any of this helps anybody. I don't think his protests that were led by his supporters, beating up people who were peacefully protesting against Trump, helps Trump. And I don't think that people who are protesting and using physical violence against people supporting Trump are helping anybody.
So I want it to just end, Jake. I don't want to parse it. I don't want to talk about the political implications. I want it to end.
The police have a hard enough job, trying to make sure that we're able to gather and talk about the issues facing our country. And Trump has lowered the bar. And now is it a surprise that people who don't like him are stepping over that low bar? I don't think it is.
He needs to condemn all violence by everyone. I already have. I will continue to do so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We're back with Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes. Scottie, is Hillary Clinton right? Did Donald Trump set the stage for at least some of the violence we're now seeing?
HUGHES: Absolutely not. Now, I will give her this. Thank you for Hillary Clinton for actually coming out and saying that you condoned [SIC] the violence. But now let's...
BLITZER: She said she condemned -- she condemned the violence.
HUGHES: She condemned. She condemns the violence, but she does not believe that it needs to be happening. Thank you for saying that. I think that's something that Bernie Sanders, as well as all leadership on both sides of the aisles, need to talk about.
Here's something interesting, though. As I watch the footage of these protests outside, there's one thing that I find to be funny. These are mainly young protesters. These are people in their 20s or their 30s, most of them of Hispanic background, as we're in California and New Mexico, which is one -- which makes me wonder, because you don't see a lot of middle-aged people out there protesting.
You don't see those that are out there that, you know, maybe are in their 40s or 50s that came over here from Mexico that remember what it's like to be under a repressed, corrupt government like what we have in Mexico today where the average or the minimum wage is $4, which is what somebody who gets right out of school, all the way up until the day they retire, unless you're in elected office.
So I find it very interesting. So as we're sitting here and we're talking about -- I'm one of those that don't believe -- that have not given up on Hispanics voting for Mr. Trump. When you look along those border counties around Texas, Mr. Trump did very well in those with a lot of Hispanics. In fact, yesterday I read a story of a former sheriff along the border who is Hispanic, who said that she -- that he supported Mr. Trump.
BLITZER: Scottie, I assume you agree with Hillary Clinton that Donald Trump, like her, should condemn all of this violence at the rallies at these meetings.
HUGHES: Absolutely. And he has. He does every single time. You have to look at this, Wolf. Within -- inside Mr. Trump's rallies, it is peaceful. There's was one -- only one example of a person who was punched out by a Trump supporter. And that was after that person had been flicking off and vulgar and had been spitting on people around him.
After that, there has been no other violence within and it's definitely not come at the source of the Trump supporters. It's always the Trump protesters that are attacking police, that are destroying property, that as we saw yesterday, a mob assaulted a woman, actually threw eggs at her, spit at her, where you know what? she had a smile on her face, but I know she was scared.
You saw yesterday people in polo shirts and khaki pants leaving with blood pouring from their heads, being assaulted by these folks as they burned the American flag. And they were burning the American flag. That is an insult to every American, regardless of what party you belong to.
BLITZER: All right. Scottie Hughes, thanks very much for joining us.
HUGHES: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Coming up, we're going to have much more on what Donald Trump just told CNN about the federal Judge Curiel.
Also, the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, she sort of gets into the fray herself. During a commencement speech today, she went after Donald Trump without mentioning him by name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: We don't build up walls to keep people out because we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people who were born elsewhere but sought out this country and made it their home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:28:21] BLITZER: In exclusive interviews only here on CNN, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they are continuing to attack one another's temperament, their fitness to be president.
CNN's Jake Tapper also asked Trump why he continues to attack the judge who is hearing the lawsuit against Trump University. Here's part of their exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I've had ruling after ruling after ruling that's been bad rulings, OK? I've been treated very unfairly. Before him, we had another judge. If that judge was still there, this case would have been over two years ago.
Let me just tell you, I have had horrible rulings. I've been treated very unfairly by this judge. Now, this judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a wall. OK? I'm building a wall.
I'm going to do very well with the Hispanics, the Mexicans and...
TAPPER: So no Mexican judge could ever be involved in a case that involves you?
TRUMP: Well, he's a member of a society where, you know, very pro- Mexico, and that's fine. That's all fine but...
TAPPER: You're calling into question his heritage.
TRUMP: ... I think -- I think he should recuse himself.
TAPPER: Because he's Latino?
TRUMP: Then you also say, does he know the lawyer on the other side? I mean, does he know the lawyer? You know, a lot of people say....
TAPPER: I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about...
TRUMP: That's another -- that's another problem.
TAPPER: You're invoking his race talking about whether or not he can do his job.
TRUMP: Here's what I think. Jake, I'm building a wall. OK? I'm building a wall. I'm trying to keep business out of Mexico. Mexico's fine.
TAPPER: But he's American; he's an American.
TRUMP: He's of Mexican heritage, and he's very proud of it, as I am where I come from.
TAPPER: But he's an American. You keep talking about it's a conflict of interest...
TRUMP: Jake, Jake, Jake...
TAPPER: ... because it's Mexico.
TRUMP: Are you ready? I have a case that should have already been dismissed already. I have thousands of people saying Trump University is fantastic. OK? I have a case that should have been dismissed. I have a judge that never, ever gives a -- now we lose the plaintiff. He lets the plaintiff of the case out. So why isn't he cancelling the case?
[17:30:01] So we thought we won the case.
TAPPER: So you disagree with his rulings. I totally understand that.
TRUMP: No, no -- I've had lawyers come up to me, say, you are being treated so unfairly it's unbelievable.
TAPPER: Is it --
TRUMP: You know, the plaintiffs in the case have all said wonderful things about the school and they're sorry? You know why they're sorry? Because they want to get their money back.
TAPPER: I don't really want to litigate the case of Trump University.
TRUMP: You have to. Because if he was giving me fair rulings, I wouldn't say that.
TAPPER: My question is --
TRUMP: Jake.
TAPPER: Yes.
TRUMP: If you were giving me fair rulings, I wouldn't be talking to you this way. He's given me horrible rulings.
TAPPER: I don't care if you criticize him. That's fine. You can criticize every decision. What I'm saying, if you invoke his race as a reason why he can't do his job.
TRUMP: I think that's why he's doing it.
TAPPER: But --
TRUMP: I think that's why he's doing it. TAPPER: When Hillary Clinton says, it's a racist attack.
TRUMP: Hillary Clinton is a stiff. If Hillary Clinton becomes president --
TAPPER: Paul Ryan today -- Paul Ryan today said he didn't care for the way that you're attacking this judge.
TRUMP: Look, I'm just telling it. Paul Ryan doesn't know the case. Here's the story.
TAPPER: Isn't it --
TRUMP: I should have won the case on summary judgment. This is not -- this is a case I should have won on summary judgment.
TAPPER: When Hillary Clinton says this is a racist attack, and you reject that. If you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism?
TRUMP: No. I don't think so at all.
TAPPER: No?
TRUMP: No. He's proud of his heritage. I respect him for that.
TAPPER: But you're saying you can't do his job because of it.
TRUMP: Look, he's proud of his heritage, OK? I'm building a wall. Now I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics --
TAPPER: He's a legal citizen --
TRUMP: You know why I'm going to do well with Hispanics? Because I'm going to bring back jobs and they're going to get jobs right now. They're going to get jobs. I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics. But we're building a wall. He's a Mexican.
TAPPER: He's not from Mexico.
TRUMP: In my opinion --
TAPPER: He's from Indiana.
TRUMP: His Mexican heritage. And he's very proud of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's get some analysis. Joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM, CNN correspondent Sunlen Serfaty, our political director David Chalian, CNN political commentator and the anchor Michael Smerconish and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro.
Guys, thanks very much for joining us. In this interview we just saw the exchange, David, it sort of
underscores the problem that Donald Trump has with Hispanic voters in the United States. This FOX poll that came out among Latino voters, he has 23 percent favorable, 74 percent unfavorable. Among Latino voters right now, 62 percent say they would vote for Hillary Clinton, only 23 percent for Donald Trump.
The last Republican president who won a contest, George W. Bush, what did he get? Like 44 percent of Latino voters?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Forty-four percent of the Hispanic vote 2004. A nine-point deficit to John Kerry's number. Only nine points among Latino split Kerry and Bush. In 2012, it was a 44-point deficit. Mitt Romney to Barack Obama. The number coming out of the 2012 election that every Republican you could find that would say to you when you were talking about why Romney lost or what the party would need to do, they said 44. That's the number. We can't lose the Latino vote by 44 points.
And comments like this are going to make this extraordinarily difficult. When Donald Trump says, I'm going to do great with Hispanics, I'd like to know what the proof points are for that because so far we haven't seen that at all.
BLITZER: Let me ask Michael Smerconish. Why is Donald Trump doubling down on this argument he's making against this federal judge?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know. I think it's ludicrous. I agree with David's points. There aren't enough white men in this country to carry him to victory. And I have to say, Wolf, as an attorney, I find this all so offensive. It's an attack on the entire judiciary. Just carry this to its logical conclusion.
He's saying he can't hear the case because he's of Mexican heritage. If he had an African-American judge, I presume that someone would say, well, he couldn't or she couldn't be fair in a discrimination case. Maybe there's a female judge and a man goes in and says, well, I can't get a fair shake because it's child custody and, of course, she's going to side with my wife.
If he has the goods, he ought to file a motion for recusal. But notice he's doing all the talking and not his lawyers and they haven't filed a motion like that.
BLITZER: Yes. Even the speaker, Paul Ryan, who endorsed him yesterday, today came out and said, he specifically disavowed what Trump is saying about this federal judge.
Ana, let's also talk about what Donald Trump is now doing as far as the New Mexico governor, Susana Martinez, is concerned. He's now telling a "Santa Fe New Mexico" newspaper that he would welcome her support even though he bitterly went after her only in recent days. Why do you think he has this change of heart?
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because he changes his heart on everything. He changes positions on everything. The man holds more positions than yoga. And I've got to tell you, I'm a lawyer. I'm also a Hispanic. I agree with absolutely everything that Michael Smerconish just said. It is offensive from a legal perspective. It is highly offensive as a Hispanic.
What he is doing is wagging the dog. He is trying to distract from the fact that he has got a problem with the case where there are allegations that his business is a scam and a fraud. How dare he, how dare he question a judge's responsibility, a judge's adherence to the Constitution because he's of Mexican descent?
[17:35:08] This man was born in east Chicago. He is an American citizen. He is just as American as Donald Trump. Mexican Americans bleed just as any other American when they go to war. They bled just as any other American on 9/11. They fight for America. They are Americans, And what he is doing is disgusting. I'm livid about it and if this is his strategy to win over Hispanics, he's got a hell of a wake-up call coming to him come November.
BLITZER: It's strong words from Ana.
You know, Sunlen, Donald Trump is also not necessarily specifically responding to the very sharp accusations that Hillary Clinton leveled against him yesterday and today. He seems to want to go after her on the e-mail stuff or Clinton Global Initiative, some other stuff. But he's not responding to that. What is the strategy behind this?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He's not responding at all. He's going straight after her character, bringing up that, she's crooked Hillary, saying that she's lying Hillary, going after the e-mail scandal once again. That's of course throwing red meat to his supporters. That's something that can really rile up his base a lot.
But, you're right. You're absolutely right. He did not really respond directly to the charges that he is unfit to be president as Hillary Clinton leveled against him. It'll be interesting to watch. She has made no bones about it. This is going to be her strategy going forward. So will he have to change that, tweak up that strategy and that approach in his response going forward?
BLITZER: And it's only just beginning, this exchange between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, right?
CHALIAN: Well, this is the definitional period of the race. This is the moment where each campaign really wants to define the character of their opponent. So that every argument that they prosecute from now through November could be seen by voters through this frame, this narrative that they build this negative frame for their opponent. So that's the period of the race where you'll remember in 2012, the Obama team and his allies did this very successfully against Mitt Romney in this period.
And I think that's what you see both sides are doing right now, perhaps more Clinton trying to do that against Trump. Donald Trump did tell Jake Tapper that he does plan to respond on the substance of what Hillary Clinton was saying. We'll see if that comes out. BLITZER: And, Michael Smerconish, very quickly, you're an attorney.
If, in fact, Donald Trump and his lawyers think that this judge is unfair, why don't they file a motion to try to recuse him?
SMERCONISH: Well, presumably because they don't think that he's fundamentally unfair because of his ethnicity.
I want to make another point which is to say, one of the ironies is that I couldn't, Ana couldn't as a lawyer representing Trump say these things in an extra judicial manner. We'd run afoul of the code of conduct that commits us acting properly as lawyers. He can do it as a First Amendment basis, as a litigant, but notice that his lawyers, that's what I want to call your attention to, they are not touching this and for good reason perhaps.
BLITZER: Stand by. Everyone, stand by. More coming up. We'll take a quick break.
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[17:42:33] BLITZER: We're back with our political experts on a day when both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sat down with CNN for exclusive interviews.
Ana, during the first leg of Michelle Obama's commencement speech today at City College in New York City, she seemed to go after Donald Trump without ever mentioning his name. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't let our differences tear us apart. Not here. Because we know that our greatness comes when we appreciate each other's strengths, when we lean on each other. When we lean on each other. Because in this country, it's never been each person for themselves. No, we are all in this together. We always have been.
And here in America, we don't give in to our fears. We don't build up walls to keep people out because we know that our greatness has always depended on contributions from people who were born elsewhere, but sought out this country and made it their home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: When she said, we don't build up walls to keep people out, you know who she was referring to.
NAVARRO: No -- I mean, it's obvious, right. And frankly, you know, I wish that Donald Trump who is now the Republican nominee would listen to these words. Would understand that he must, must stop pinning one American against another.
You can be of Mexican, of Mexican descent but you were born in this country. He is an American. I was born in Nicaragua. Tell you what, Donald, I'm on this side of the wall, I am an American and there is nothing you can say, you can do, to take away our love for America, our loyalty towards this country, and it is time to stop talking about walls and to start building bridges.
It is time to stop pitting Muslims versus other Americans, Mexicans versus other Americans, women versus men. Start uniting Americans if you want to be our president. If you are elected, you will be the president of every American in the United States. Start acting like it.
BLITZER: You're a Republican, Ana. Are you ready to say that you're going to vote for Hillary Clinton?
NAVARRO: Hell no. I have nobody to vote for. This is the first time in my life as a U.S. citizen that I am completely despondent. I have nobody that I like. But I can tell you that I find Donald Trump's insistence on having a campaign that relies on picking on Latinos over and over again. That is his -- I find it exhausting. I find it disgusting. I find it infantile and I find it lacking all presidential stature.
[17:45:07] BLITZER: Michael, Hillary Clinton went after Donald Trump's lack of foreign policy experience with very strong words, saying it will put the United States at risk. But we also heard similar comments from his Republican rivals. It didn't work well for them. Will it work any better now for Hillary Clinton?
SMERCONISH: I don't know, is the short answer. But what I thought, as I watch that speech, is that this was her really trying to define and, to David Chalian's point, define the race that's to come. And I have to believe that she didn't deliver those remarks in a vacuum. That the comments that she offered were the product of polling and focus groups and that the Clinton campaign has come to a determination that this is the way that they think they can dislodge him.
Like you, Wolf, I still remember that primary and caucus process. I remember when Marco Rubio, among others, tried to take him on in similar fashion. She was a combination of policy wonk and ridiculing Donald Trump. I think that she runs a risk when she tries to play at his level. That would be my two cents.
BLITZER: And David Chalian, I suspect there are plenty of Republicans out there who feel very much like Ana Navarro.
CHALIAN: There are, although we have seen in the polling that he has been consolidating Republican Party members and voters in the polls. It's what's keeping him competitive right now so while there is certainly a swath of Republicans who are clearly still uncomfortable with him as the nominee, I don't think that's where the majority of Republican Party is right now.
BLITZER: All right, guys, thanks very much. We're going to have much more on this story coming up.
Important note to our viewers, please watch Michael Smerconish's program tomorrow. It's called "SMERCONISH" right here on CNN Saturday morning 9:00 a.m. Eastern and 6:00 p.m. Eastern as well. That's all tomorrow. Coming up, sons of an American defector who've lived their entire
lives in North Korea are showcased by Kim Jong-un's regime in a fascinating propaganda effort. We have details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:23] BLITZER: In a bizarre but compelling propaganda effort, Kim Jong-un's regime is showcasing the adult sons of an American defector who've lived their entire lives in North Korea and profess absolute loyalty to their communist homeland.
Brian Todd has been looking into this pretty amazing story. Brian, what are you learning?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tonight, U.S. government official are being very cagey, not commenting on a jarring new propaganda video by a pro-North Korean news service. Now the video features two young men, brothers of American heritage who've lived in North Korea their entire lives. They are portrayed as being so supportive of Kim Jong-un's regime that one of the brothers is apparently in the North Korean Army.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Tonight U.S. officials tell CNN they won't comment on their analysis of this stunning North Korean propaganda tape. The video features two brothers of American heritage in Pyongyang, speaking in what one expert calls a North Korean accent as they pledge their loyalty to Kim Jong-un and slam the United States.
JAMES DRESNOK, SON OF AMERICAN DEFECTOR TO NORTH KOREA (Through Translator): The American imperialism, the United States wants to conquer the world, pursuing anti-North Korean policy, trying to take over Asia.
TODD: U.S. based sources say the story of how these men who are actually half American came to support the North Korean dictator began more than 50 years ago, before they were born. Ted and James Dresnok are the sons of James Joseph Dresnok, a former American soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962.
TED DRESNOK, SON OF AMERICAN DEFECTOR TO NORTH KOREA (Through Translator): The United States must abandon its anti-North Korean policy. It's done a lot of bad things.
TODD: The brothers were born in North Korea and by all accounts have never lived outside the country.
James Dresnok says he is a captain in the North Korean army.
GREG SCARLATOIU, COMMITTEE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NORTH KOREA: I am not sure that this is actually real. It might as well just be a propaganda ploy.
TODD: According to analysts and published reports, Ted and James' father, James Dresnok, Sr., deserted his U.S. Army unit and walked across the DMZ in 1962 because he feared a court-martial over a forged signature. They say the North Koreans arranged a marriage for him with a Romanian woman, Doina Bumbea. Ted and James were born about 20 years later. Their mother reportedly died in 1997. But their father, James Dresnok Sr., is believed to be still alive in North Korea and appeared in this 2006 documentary.
Human rights advocate Greg Scarlatoiu knows Ted and James, Dresnok's extended family.
SCARLATOIU: Although they had lived their entire lives under very strict surveillance, they have been protected to a certain extent because they're such a great propaganda asset.
TODD: The brothers and their father acted in North Korean propaganda movies, playing the evil American. As for this interview it is not clear if the brothers were forced to say those things or if they really believe them.
BALBINA HWANG, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Remember these two brothers were actually born in North Korea. It's the only world that they know. And whatever they were told about the outside world I am certain was very limited and purposely chosen and selected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: Human rights advocate Greg Scarlatoiu says he doesn't think James and Ted Dresnok would be allowed to leave North Korea even if they wanted to. Now would their father be punished by the U.S. military if he left? We got no immediate comment from the Pentagon on that. Another American defector, Charles Jenkins, was court-martialed by the U.S. Army when he left North Korea but he was sentenced to only 25 days.
The Pentagon has said there have been at least four American GIs who left their units and defected to North Korea since the 1960s -- Wolf.
[17:55:02] BLITZER: Brian, what kind of jobs do these Americans and other foreigners for that matter have in North Korea?
TODD: Well, some of them do propaganda work, but we're told that many of them, including foreigners who have been abducted and brought to North Korea are made to teach language and culture to North Korean spies who are going to be sent overseas.
BLITZER: Fascinating stuff. Brian Todd, thank you.
Coming up, Donald Trump lashes out at a federal judge overseeing the Trump University fraud cases, suggesting he's bias because of his Mexican heritage. Republican leaders are squirming, Latino voters are fuming. You're going to hear more of CNN's exclusive interview with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Happening now. Breaking news. Trump judgment. Donald Trump defending his controversial remarks about a federal judge.
