Transcripts For FOXNEWSW On The Record With Greta Van Suster

Record, it just got stranger than fiction out even reality tv. And on a weirdness scale of 1 to 10, were now at 15. Now Donald Trumps Campaign Manager cory lieu lulucharged for simple demeanor battery. Take to you florida where the charges were filed. Donald Trump Campaign is here to respond plus smart analysis from our on the record legal panel and our Political Panel. Right now we hear from donald trump himself. He just spoke about the alleged incident involving his Campaign Manager. Trump speaking on board his 757 in wisconsin. Cory is a fine person. I looked at the tape. Those tapes were supplied by me. Just so you understand, this is a very high end club and we had tapes all over the place and we supplied those tq and those tapes, to me, are very conclusive. A lot of people are looking and saying how can anybody be charged. When you look at that tape, i guarantee you were pushed around more getting on to this plane right now than she was pushed around. You take a look at this, take a look at you folks with the cameras onn small space. You got pushed around more than she got pushed around. I just cant stand by and watch a mans life life be destroyed. Take a look at her original statement. Look at her original statement before she knew that donald trump was rich and has cameras all over the ceiling so that we can protect people from the standpoint of security fire, et cetera, et cetera. Take a look at her original statement, the first words out of her mouth about her going down and, you know, pulled down or something to that effect. She was pulled she doesnt even change her expression. I looked at the tape, and, by the way, if he was that way, i would have fired him in two seconds. I couldnt have cared less. I looked at the tape, there is not even a change of expression on her face. I look at internet and you take a look at the tweets and people are saying you have got to be kidding me. [everyone talkingx at once] response to this . Disgraceful. I think you as a reporter and all of you as a reporter probably get treated a lot rougher than that on a daily basis. I have never seen anything like it. I cant imagine how they did it he has got a very good lawyer. They will fight it i told him he should never settle that case. I told him that is not to my benefit, but i think when people see that tape, and they take a look at that tape and they take a look at her initial statement before she knew she was on tape, take a look at to see it, you take a look at her initial statement, it sounded like she got thrown out of a building. You take a look at that and then,. She did get bruises on her arm. I dont know they were bruises from that. How do you know those bruises werent there before . Thats what the police. I dont know what the police said. How do you know those bruises werent there before . Im not a lawyer. But she said she had a bruise on her arm. I mean, to me, if you are going to get squeezed, wouldnt you think you would have yelled out a scream or something if she has bruises on her arm . Take a look at heri Facial Expression. Her Facial Expression doesnt even change. So, you know, you say bruises. How did they get there . Who put them there . I dont know that he put them there. In any event, im sticking up for a person because im not going to let a persons life be destroyed over somebody that we have on tape and you just take a look at what people are saying when they see that incident on tape. And no jury, in my opinion. We begin with George Bennett in west palm beach. George, nice to have you join us. Great to be here. George, what you can tell me about this District Attorney down there . The state attorney in Palm Beach County is dave aaronburg, he is an elected official, a democrat. And his office will ultimately make the decision. The police today filed a whats called a probable cause affidavit which says there is probable cause to charge Cory Lewandowski with demeanor battery. It is ultimately up to the Prosecutors Office to go ahead with the charges. He has a Court Appearance may 4th. So i guess some time between now and may 4th they will make that determination. So as i understand it, the sum total of evidence, at least that the police considered is that video that we keep seeing. Right. The the Washington Post reporter that said he saw it, eyewitness testimony. And Michelle Fields who said something happened to her. She was grabbed. This is an audio statement short time after but she doesnt know who grabbed her. She didnt identify who it was. She didnt have a name until the the Washington Post reporter gave her the7i name. Is that the sum total of the evidence . Or is there more . I think thats it. The Police Report also mentions the bruises on her arms, so the Jupiter Police observed those as well. According to their report. Is there is the d. A. Saying anything at this point . I realize it has not yet been filed in court. Is there an expectation that this is actually going to lead to charges in court . And, you know, im more of a politics guy than a legal guy but i know that the procedure is a Police Department files a probable cause affidavit like this, and then the prosecutors review whether to go ahead with charges based on, you beyond a reasonable doubt and also, i dont know the exact legal terminology but whether they have ghaption they would win a case in court. Let me ask you a politics question then. The florida primary has already occurred. Do you have any sort of sense of how this is resonating with voters down in florida . Well, i think, like everything involving donald trump, there has been a very polarized response that we have seen today. You saw ted cruz and john kasich criticize him, and i think ted cruz called it the culture of his campaign. We just heard Donald Trumps defense of this. And i know just from social media the response of Trump Supporters and trump critics has been, you know, pretty polarized just like Everything Else having to do with his campaign. George, thank you for joining us. Thank you. so is Donald Trumps Campaign Manager in legal hot water . Or is it just political hot water in the on the record legal panel is here. Former homicide detective and criminal defense attorney ted williams and former prosecutor katie phang. Let me ask a quick question to both of you. Katie i will go first to you as a former florida prosecutor. Would you charge this case in court yes or no . I would. I know you guys are probably going to disagree with me. I would. As a form everywhere prosecutor it meets all of the elements of the offense of a simple battery. It was not done in selfdefense. Let me tell you something, it meets all the elements. I would charge it. Ted, wouldnm you . Absolutely not. I would love to be the defense lawyer in this case. Okay. Katie, let me go to you. Now you do defense work. You are a defense lawyer. Could you winz i would rather be the defense attorney truth be told. At this point there is a lot of issues to overcome. Why . Because at this point there is going to be jury nullification. The jury is going to say are you kidding me . There is not anything more serious to be prosecuting in Palm Beach County than a simple battery case. There was a delay of three days between the actual incident and when it was reported to the police that alone i think is a problem for Michelle Fields. I dont even see the intent thats needed for a battery here. Lets be candid here. If this was not about donald trump, we would never hear about a case like this. This guy would never be prosecuted there are diversion programs. This would have gone into a diversion program. I dont think you would take it into diversion. Lets skip the issue here about bad manners andaxwajjt rude and all that worry just focusing on the legal stuff. I, in my wildest dreams, i dont see how a jury ever convicts on this with all the ambiguity. In fact we have a picture. If we can put up a still picture it looks like two secret service, looks like is what i say, looks like two secret service who are protecting donald trump is that they are reaching for her. I dont know whether or not that was what provoked the bruises or not, thats the problem. There is your reasonable doubt right there. Absolutely. You have reasonable doubt. Greta. I grew up in louisiana. I had two high school coaches, kennedy and moore. And when they grabbed you, jail. Look here, what im simply saying is under the circumstances here you have got a touching. Was it incidental or accidental . You are going to take this man down . I can unequivocallably tell you one more time that in america you are innocent until proven guilty. There is something very troubling. This is about donald trump. This is not about lewandowski. In light of what you said, katie, i think everybody would rather be the defense attorney on this one. Do you realistically think that this Campaign Manager is going to be charged in the prosecutor is going to want to take this case to trial . Is going to take this to trial, and i think themj4 p c reason why is he is never going to settle for anything less. Is he not going to settle for a plea offer. Is he going to take it to trial. He better hope that this jury that listens to this case is a trump supporter because if not he will be convicted. There is independent evidence, im sorry, there Washington Post reporter as to what happened. Katie, you know what . I mean, who could predict what a jury is going to do but i would so much rather be the defense lawyer on this one, a million times on this one. Greta, not only that prosecutorial discretion. I would think that a prosecutor should look at this and understand what he has here. Let her go to civil court and sue the hell out of this guy. But to give a criminal record under these circumstances or try to get a conviction i think he has got a problem. Anyway, katie, ted, thank you. And in typical trump fashion donald trump took to twitter to defend his Campaign Manager in a series of twees trump saying wow Cory Lewandowski my campaigning in manager. And a very decent man was just charged with assaulting a reporter. One of Donald Trumps Campaign Chairs jeff duit goes on the record. Thank you for joining us. Obviously you are a trump supporter and on trumps side of this. Is that fair to say . That is fair to say. Do you know cory by any chance, the campaigngo manager . I do. He is a friend of mine. He is a great guy. He has a Great Respect for women. Know he would never do something to harm anybody. Is he a really nice guy. Have you spoken to him about this incident . I have spoken to him about this incident. What did he tell you . Like you said, his job, one of his jobs is to protect donald trump. If you see donald trump, youre going to see Cory Lewandowski somewhere around. Thats part of the job to be right there and a body man. In politics we have whats called body men who are right there with us at all times. You will see them together and he does a great job. Cory is one of the best people on the campaign we have. Did he say to you that he grabbed her . Well, again, there is the hustle and bustle of trying to get thats not the question. Did he say to you he grabbed her . Well, you know, now that there is a legal case i dont want to say anything of what he said except to say that there is a lot. By not answering that we assume that he did say that to you. Because if he didnt sayee that to you no. We didnt discuss the blowbyblow. He didnt say that he grabbed her. I guess i can say it like that. Whatg ÷ did he say that he did or didnt do . Well, when what we discussed was the credibility of Michelle Fields and the fact that years ago she had accused the nypd of dragging her to thekhv÷ ground and beating her with a baton or something of that fashion. Where is that from . Tell me about i have never heard that so please tell me more. Well, if you could just look at that i guess google Michelle Fields nypd, you will see the statements that are out there. There are a lot of reports out there that she had made similar claims against the new york Police Department. She was covering the occupy wall Street Movement and made claims. And, again, this is just according to stuff i have read online. I hope that i have not said something inaccurate. This seems to be widely reported that she made similar claims using similar language that she was forcefully thrown to the ground. Her initial statement before she knew there were tapes, she made the statement campaigng managers should not forcefully throw reporters to the ground. Thats why these tapes were released by donald trump. To show she was not forcefully thrown to the ground. I think there is a definite credibility issue. And, the other thing to keep in mind is that her own publication, who she was reporting for, let her go and issued q a cease and desist order. I think thats the whole employment dispute that has blown up over that which is a whole another segment or episode. Jeff, thank you. Thank you. Donald trump just moments ago talking to our sean hannity in an interview that airs at 10 00 p. M. Eastern tonight and trump says the video proves cory lewandawski is innocent. Im very cloud glad we were able to produce the tape. I dont see anything. I see virtually nothing. And were going to destroy a mans life over this . You know, they are chopping off heads. They are drowning people in the middle east. We are going to destroy a mans life . He has got four i beautiful children and a wife in New Hampshire and we are going to destroy his wife because somebody makes a charge . And, by the way, did you notice how that charge changed after she found out that donald trump produced the tape . If i didnt produce the tape, it would have been much worse because look at the statements she made. She was dragged down. I had it written down forcefully thrown, throw reporters to the ground. I mean, Campaign Managers arent supposed to forcefully throw reporters to the ground. What ground . In fact, if you look at her face, her expression doesnt even change. And trump g. O. P. Rival senator ted cruz and Governor John Kasich taking the opportunity to hit at trump and take on his character. Well, its a very sad development. And this is the consequence of the culture of the Trump Campaign. The abusive culture. When you have a campaign that is[f built on personal insults, on attacks, and now physical violence. That has no place in a political campaign. It has no place in our democracy. And i think it is a really unfortunate development, but i do think it helps clarify for the voters what the Trump Campaign is all about. We probably would suspend somebody. You know, it would depend what it is and what the evidence was. But when we see things that we think are inappropriate, we takerz action. And thats what i would do. And its up to him. I mean, everybody is innocent until proven guilty. However, when we see things that are very disturbing, we then take action and i think thats what needs to be done but thats trumps call, not mine. The on the record Political Panel is here. Fortune magazine nina easton and from town hall. Com guy benson. Nina, there are a couple issues here. Would like to be the defense lawyer on that one. I think thats an easy one to beat representing him. The second one is the rude boorish behavior after the incident by the Trump Campaign. Thats a political issue. And the whole idea then the third issue is that a lot of people in the media have seized upon sort of the factual issue of whether or not this even happened as, you know, whether or not he actually did this. Anyway, so there is the message. Your turn. I think its less about this one incident than it is about a pattern of behavior on the part of the candidate himself who not only has bullied people, what he did, he went after ted cruzs wife last week. He suggested way back that ben carson was a pedophile. I mean, we know he bullies and he defends people who bully. And i think if he, in this particularyo incident, when it first happened, if he had said this is not going to be tolerated. Im going to look into it, and i apologize if something if she was hurt. She has made it clear she wouldnt have filed anything. It was the fact that turned a cannon on her that made her move more aggressively to take action. So its about its about how a president ial candidate should react. And we should get back to this. This is going to hurt him even more with women voters. Go ahead. Let me get the viewers in for a second. Viewers, its your turn to vote at home on twitter. Should donald trump suspend his Campaign Manager until the legal case is resolved . Tweet yes or no using greta. We will show you live twitter votes throughout the show. Guy, your turn. I think we heard from your last guest there are a few assertions that not true. He said im not sure if thats actually a crime. He watched the video is that actually a crime. The problem is corrie lewandowski called her a liar. Im not convinced im not the jury. We have that video stopped and two secret service who look like they are about to grab her it is theoretically possible that he didnt touch her. No he touched her. If you. There is the audio of her talking to the the Washington Post reporter,l right