Michelle Fields Responds To Trump Manager Firing
CUOMO: OK, Donald Trump's now-fired campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski -- he was no stranger to controversy. He was a guy who liked to mix it up. He was out there in the crowd with Donald, and then there was this, in March, where he is seen grabbing reporter Michelle Fields at a campaign rally. Despite pictures showing Fields bruised arm, Lewandowski always maintained he did nothing wrong. He went after Fields. Fields then wound up leaving Brietbart where she had been working at the time. She now is working at the Huffington Post and she's a political reporter. She wrote a book that is a very interesting insight into the dynamic in the beltway that this election is such a referendum on for so many people, called the "Barons of the Beltway". So, with all that, we've got Fields here this morning. Michelle, there's so much stuff to talk to you about. Even though you had to suffer through that, you left Brietbart, you went to Huffington Post. You can't be upset about that. What do you see in these changes of the Trump campaign -- Lewandowski being out? Do you believe that Lewandowski is why Trump has had the stumbles that he has had?</s>MICHELLE FIELDS, POLITICAL REPORTER, "HUFFINGTON POST": Look, I don't think Corey Lewandowski was probably very good at his job. He was simply a body man who organized these amazing events for Trump. Yes, he's out, but that doesn't change the fact that Trump is still Trump. No one can make Trump say the things that he's been saying. He has said some very racist things, especially about the judge, not too long ago. It's not his staffers that made him say it, it's him. So he can get rid of all of the staff that he has and bring on new staff, but it doesn't change the fact that he is Trump and that is his character.</s>CUOMO: Now, you're a hybrid, right? I keep calling you a reporter but you're part of the Republican #NeverTrump organization. Like, that's your mindset on this. So you're covering him but you're doing it through a lens. Do you believe that this change might give you a little bit of hope, as a Republican, that he could become the kind of candidate you need him to be?</s>FIELDS: No, because like I said, I don't think that changes the character. He has shown us what he's like, who he is. Just because you get rid of staffers doesn't change who you are as a person. This is someone who is a bully. Who is, like I say in my book, a Washington insider. I profile tons of Washington insiders. That is Trump. He has done a very good job at positioning himself as this outsider, yet he is someone who has built this amazing real estate empire through deals that he's gotten with politicians. He's paid off politicians in New York, who then gave him favorable treatment when it comes to many of his deals. This isn't someone who is an outsider. He's building a hotel a few blocks away from the White House. This is someone who is very cozy with the media, especially many people in cable news. This is not someone who is an outsider. He is, in fact, the ultimate insider. He is the baron of the beltway if he were to get elected.</s>CUOMO: He started -- one of his introductory remarks was look, I know how the game works. I was one of the ones paying the money for favors, and people actually kind of dismissed that as his having insight into the system. Let's put up an excerpt from the book that makes this point for you about barons of the beltway and Trump being one of them. You say here, "Trump was supposed to be different. He tricked many, many good people into believing that he was authentic, that he would tell it like it is. But while Trump may not have been a politician himself, he was still very much a part of the elite system that's been running Washington for far too long." So, is he the problem or is he the solution, Fields?</s>FIELDS: He is absolutely the problem. I think what we need is someone who is an actual outsider, not someone who is masquerading as an insider. This is someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. This is someone who has been involved in nepotism, helping his sister become a judge and get into a high position. The idea that he's going to just go into Washington and, you know, disrupt it is incorrect. In fact, many lobbyists are very excited about Trump because they think that he is a dealmaker. He is not someone who is ideological. He's not motivated by ideology. In fact, he's motivated about keeping power, getting more money himself, and this is not someone who's going to care about the American people and his constituents. He went and said that if he were to go on Fifth Avenue and kill someone that his supporters are, essentially, stupid enough to continue to support him. So, the idea that he's going to go in there and keep to his promises when he clearly thinks his supporters are not very bright and will stick with him through anything, I think, says a lot.</s>CUOMO: So, one side note which is, as you probably know, Trump's sister has very good reputation as a judge --</s>FIELDS: Oh, very good, yes.</s>CUOMO: But, you know, so --</s>FIELDS: But she has admitted that he did lobby to help her get the position that she's in.</s>CUOMO: Right. Well, you know --</s>FIELDS: It was according to a "New York Times" report.</s>CUOMO: I know, but you want to a "New York Times" -- whatever. But, what I'm saying is let's give her her due. She's got a big reputation as a judge.</s>FIELDS: Oh, yes, of course.</s>CUOMO: But, let me ask you something else.</s>FIELDS: But it still shows nepotism.</s>CUOMO: Be that as it may, let's end it on this idea, though. So, you're a Republican, you're a #NeverTrump-er. What is your alternative, though? He is your party's presumptive nominee. At this point it seems, emphatically, he's going to be your nominee. Would you consider -- do you believe there is a slice of your party that would consider Clinton?</s>FIELDS: I do. I think that --</s>CUOMO: Are you one of them, by the way, Fields? I'm putting you on the record.</s>FIELDS: I'm not a huge fan of Hillary, as you know. I've been a conservative my whole life, pretty libertarian, but I do think that Hillary would not be as detrimental to this country as Donald Trump would, especially when it comes to foreign policy. I think Trump can cause a lot more damage than Hillary would if Hillary were elected. So, I would.</s>CUOMO: Michelle Fields, good luck with the book. I would suggest that you were employing an artificial standard -- the "not a huge fan". This election is the "who's less worse"? You'll have to change your lens of looking at it --</s>FIELDS: Yes.</s>CUOMO: -- based on what we're hearing from all the voters. Michelle Fields, thank you very much and good luck with the book, "Barons of the Beltway" -- Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: All right, shall we talk drones this morning? Drones can be good fun, but what happens when they start falling out of the sky or getting in the way of planes? An exclusive look at new research on drone dangers straight ahead.