CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript

Interview

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But Mr. Trump has doubts about the President's grades and especially his birth certificate. Here's part two of my interview with Trump, unedited, about the birth certificate.

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DONALD TRUMP, CHAIRMAN & CEO, TRUMP HOTELS & CASINO RESORTS: The fact is, a lot of people are troubled with this, just like I am.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Yes, but a lot of people believe 9/11 didn't happen, or --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: The governor says that he saw, the governor, the previous governor, said that he saw the birth certificate. Now they're saying, oh, it wasn't a birth certificate. It was a certificate of live birth.

There was supposed to be a birth certificate. I don't think it exists, Anderson. I hope it exists, but I don't think it exists.

COOPER: But it wasn't previous the governor. It was the health director for the previous governor, who we've just interviewed on camera, says yes, she has actually seen it. And it doesn't say he's a Muslim. It doesn't say anything --

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TRUMP: Well, that's fine. Then you know what Obama should do? Instead of spending millions of dollars on lawyers, he should say it's ok to release my birth certificate. No, he should do that.

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COOPER: You have said this millions in lawyers -- you have said this idea that he's spending millions of dollars on lawyers to refute this. And in other interviews, you have said he spent $2 million.

TRUMP: I have heard over $2 million.

COOPER: Right. All that is according to an FEC filing. But in truth, though, you --

TRUMP: Well, that's a pretty big filing. I mean, he's not lying to the SEC -- or the FEC.

COOPER: But you have no idea what that money was spent on. No one does. You can't say he spent $2 million --

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TRUMP: Well, they say it was spent on lawyers trying to protect him.

COOPER: Right.

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TRUMP: No, no, they say it was spent on lawyers trying to protect him from showing a birth certificate that may not exist.

COOPER: Well, that's not true. The FEC filing is about lawyers. Candidates spend a lot on winding down campaigns. He also has to defend against FEC investigations into campaign financing.

TRUMP: Look, he spent a lot of money, whether it was millions of dollars or hundreds of thousands, but I have a feeling it was millions. He spent a lot of money.

Now, why should he waste money? He could do what I did just a month ago. I called in. I said, you're right, it's a private document. Thank you very much. You can release it.

It is a private document, Anderson, but he can release it.

COOPER: All right.

John McCain, has by the way, spent $1.3 million on legal fees according to "Roll Call" since the election.

But you -- you repeatedly, though, in interviews say that there's no serial number on the live -- on the certificate of live birth.

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TRUMP: No, what I say is the following, Anderson. What I say is it's a stamp signature, a stamp.

COOPER: Right.

TRUMP: It's not a signature; it's a stamp. Anybody can get a stamp. Anybody can make a stamp. But it's a stamp signature.

But much more importantly, if you look at your birth certificate or my birth certificate, it's got details all over it, lots of details that you don't have on a certificate of live birth. A certificate of live birth, you can get over a telephone, Anderson. It's not the same thing.

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COOPER: All right, part two of the interview with Donald Trump. Hawaii says the computer generated certification of live birth, which the Obama campaign has -- has -- has put forward, which the state sends out when people request their birth certificate is the authoritative word on whether someone was born there.

The state of Hawaii no longer even accepts the old long-form document for official purposes, yet Mr. Trump says he trusts the old, but not the new.

So in this, the final part of our interview, I asked him why, if both come from the same source, would he trust either?

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COOPER: Isn't this a problem you have with the state of Hawaii, because -- I mean, if some --

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TRUMP: No.

(CROSSTALK) COOPER: -- if some person came to work for your organization and gave a certificate of live birth as proof of identification, you're saying you wouldn't accept it?

TRUMP: No, I don't have that problem with Hawaii, because they take birth certificates.

And until just recently, when obviously they're starting to get a little bit nervous --

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COOPER: But they don't recognize the birth certificate you're talking about.

TRUMP: Anderson, they're starting to get a little bit nervous. And until just recently, they said we have our birth certificate, but it's private. We don't want to show it. It's private. We have it. And we also have a certificate of live birth.

So, here's the certificate. And a lot of reporters, like George Stephanopoulos, who by the way, was very nice to me except on this issue. He was like -- he was like a crazed lunatic.

But I'll tell you what. Until recently, they said we have a birth certificate, but it's private. Now they're sort of saying, well, maybe we don't have a birth certificate. We have a certificate of live birth.

All of a sudden, they're changing their tune, because I'm hearing that the birth certificate either disappeared, one or the other, or never existed. And if that's the case, he has a problem.

Let's go on to how gas prices are going to destroy this country.

COOPER: Well, let me ask you just one more question on this. On Bill O'Reilly's show, you said maybe he doesn't want to release it because it might say he's a Muslim.

TRUMP: Well, no, I didn't say that. I said there may be something on it. And they asked me like what? I said, well, perhaps because he's a Muslim. Perhaps something.

I mean, who knows what's on it? I don't know. But he didn't want to release it maybe because if they had it, there's something on it. Because I can't understand why is he spending all this money in legal fees when all he has to do is say release my birth certificate?

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COOPER: Well, again you don't --

TRUMP: I released mine a month ago.

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COOPER: Again, you don't know how much he's spending on this particular issue.

TRUMP: Oh he's spending a tremendous amount of money.

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COOPER: But on the long form birth certificate if you're talking about there is no form.

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TRUMP: Anderson, he's fighting all over the country on this issue.

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COOPER: -- there is no part for religion on that, just for the record.

TRUMP: Unless he has cheaper lawyers than I have, Anderson, he's fighting all over the country on this issue, and it's getting -- it's bothering them greatly, and they're very concerned.

The birth certificate is -- and I will tell you this, Anderson. When I got involved, when all of a sudden the polls had me started to rank number one -- you do admit that I'm ranked number one, do you not?

COOPER: Yes, I think tied with Huckabee.

TRUMP: Yes, in almost every poll.

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COOPER: But I will give that to you, absolutely.

TRUMP: But prior to that, I will tell you, when I first started this, which was a few months ago, I had heard this issue for a long time about his birth certificate or the lack thereof and about where he may have been born or whatever. I had heard it for a long time.

And I didn't pay too much credence, I didn't pay too much attention to it and then every day that went by, it looked more and more suspicious.

COOPER: Again, he has released his birth certificate. It is the certificate of live birth. That is -- in Hawaii, that is what is official.

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TRUMP: That is not -- Anderson, you're a smart guy. And I watch your show and I like your show. You're a smart guy.

A certificate of live birth is not a birth certificate. You know it and I know it.

COOPER: The other thing -- and the other thing you have been saying is that -- is that President Obama's grandparents probably planted his birth announcement in the local newspaper.

TRUMP: Yes, and not because they thought he was going to be president because they wanted him to be a citizen of the country. And who blames them?

COOPER: But you know that's not possible.

The Hawaii Department of Health, the hospital, and the newspaper all confirmed to us -- we were just there -- that that wasn't possible. In 1961, the only way to get a birth announcement was directly from the Department of Health. The newspapers didn't accept birth announcements any other way back then.

TRUMP: But they put it in at your request, Anderson. And we have that checked also. They put it in at your request. And they will put it in at your request.

COOPER: They don't.

TRUMP: Plus, the grandparents could also have put it in. What, the newspaper is not going to take their ad? It doesn't work that way.

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COOPER: It does. And to this day, it works that way.

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TRUMP: All right, well, what can I tell you? And, by the way, you know when the ad was placed? Anywhere from eight to 14 days later.

COOPER: Again, it came from the Department of Health.

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TRUMP: The ad was placed from eight to 14 days later. So you mean they wait eight to 14 days and then they put in an ad that he was born? I don't think so.

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